After two days of meal delivery, Lance gradually got the hang of the work, figuring out a time and labor-saving plan.
He no longer waited for District Two people to send him tomorrow’s lunch requirements, then coordinate with the restaurant for discussion, make slight modifications, finally form a menu table, and collect items from the cafeteria one by one the next day.
He directly contacted the cafeteria to create six set meals: a fitness meal, a weight-loss meal, one heavy in oil and salt, one light and refreshing, and two featuring regional cuisines to add novelty.
According to the principle of forced choice in psychology, Lance only placed six options in front of them.
Most of them forgot to make requests and subconsciously chose one of the packages, yet still felt they possessed the same rights as before.
Lance extracted the serial number keywords, created a spreadsheet, and saved more than half the time cost.
So on the fourth day, he completed a full day’s work in just two hours.
Second District’s tasks were complex and classified, and they wouldn’t easily let interns touch cases still under confidentiality, so no one assigned him additional work.
He tried walking around the restricted zone, wanting to see the nearby Hong Suo Research Institute and the even more unfathomable Qianyun.
However, Lance quickly discovered that not only could he not approach Hong Suo and Qianyun, he couldn’t even enter the recreational ecological zones within the restricted area.
The restricted zone had strict hierarchical divisions. Entering any indoor space required facial recognition. The bottom-tier laborers working in the restricted zone, and even grassroots employees from various departments, were not qualified to enjoy these benefits. They could only provide services to high-ranking officials, Federation congressmen, and their relatives.
Lance remembered Lan Wendao saying that when coming to the restricted zone for that quadrennial grand meeting, he had once been taken to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the major ecological zones in the restricted area, as well as the pleasant living environment.
It seemed that to make the seven top guilds more loyal, the Federation government even promised that after they were relieved of their guild duties, they could come to the restricted zone to retire.
“The rainforest ecological zone supposedly has hundreds of plant species, transported by the shipload from Parasaki, even the waterfalls use pumped local lake water.”
“The snow mountain ecological zone uses artificial snow, but it’s modeled after the Lotasi Ice Field. The AGW Special Dangerous Death Row Prison is there—supposedly they’ve hollowed out everything beneath the ice layers.”
“The wetland ecological zone was also transported in its entirety, but they didn’t just move plants—they moved animals too. To completely replicate the local ecosystem, supposedly they even captured five speechless, ability-less natives to be displayed like animals for viewing.”
“A sociologist at Hong Suo Research Institute strongly protested, saying the Federation government’s actions disregarded human rights. His writing was profound and sharp, the article spread widely and gained broad social support. The Federation Congress voted on a resolution and finally sent the five natives back, but they were still killed by their own tribe, who suspected them of being outside spies.”
When Lan Wendao told these stories, Lance was only twelve years old and listened purely as novelties. Thinking about it now, that sociologist was most likely Uriel.
It seemed Uriel had caused the Federation government quite a bit of trouble.
Lan Wendao also said: “The beach ecological zone wasn’t very interesting—the sand was dead, the waves artificial, the seawater at most two meters deep. Turn around and instead of endless coastlines and harbor cruise ships, you see tree-lined paths and high-rise buildings. It’s far inferior to our Harbor Tan City.”
“The hospitals, schools, and museums also seemed petty. After all, the restricted zone is just one district of the capital city. But Qianyun truly is magnificent and imposing, towering and majestic—even we could only go up to the eleventh floor.”
“Behind Qianyun there’s also a mountain, the back mountain…”
When saying this last sentence, Lan Wendao deliberately glanced at Lance. Lance was contemplating the Black Lantern Society’s organizational structure at the time. Sensing Lan Wendao’s gaze, he looked up and met his eyes.
“What about the back mountain?”
He could multitask—this was thanks to the Outer God’s training from childhood.
“Nothing, the back mountain is off-limits for visits.” Lan Wendao looked away, answering perfunctorily.
Standing in the restricted zone now, recalling Lan Wendao’s expression and tone at the time, Lance felt that Lan Wendao had hidden something.
He looked at the dutiful Seventh District team member blocking his way and put on an innocent student expression: “Since I can’t go here, may I walk around the back mountain? I haven’t gone mountain climbing or hiking in a long time.”
The Seventh District team member looked at him incredulously: “Are you joking? The back mountain is a cemetery where the heroes of the Rebellion Suppression rest in eternal peace. Is that a place for you to go mountain climbing and hiking?”
Lance’s eyelids lifted slightly: “I see.”
The Rebellion Suppression again.
Lan Wendao always seemed to intentionally or unintentionally prevent him from learning about the Rebellion Suppression. Why?
The Seventh District team member waved his hand: “Hurry along, stop wandering around the restricted zone randomly, or Second District will arrest you as a spy.”
Lance smiled apologetically: “I’ll leave right away.”
With nowhere to go, he had to return to the Blue Pivot building. Second District personnel still walked hurriedly with cold expressions, not even sparing a glance for interns who might not even get hired.
Lance, who had been watched since childhood due to his outstanding appearance, was experiencing such cold treatment for the first time. Only Loen would deliberately come out from his workstation to greet him when he saw him.
Lance’s gaze followed the square-faced Alpha who walked past him with his nose in the air. After a moment, he withdrew his gaze with a wry smile: “It seems I’ve offended him.”
Loen smiled and explained: “Don’t be upset. He acts this way because he actually quite likes your appearance.”
“Hm?” Lance raised an eyebrow.
Loen sighed: “Work pressure is high in the restricted zone, and promotion channels are narrow. Bottom-tier inspection team members need to accumulate merit points to obtain residential quotas within the restricted zone. Generally, one thousand merit points are needed to enter the queue pool, so to settle down here often requires both spouses working together. He already has six hundred points this year and needs to find a wife with over four hundred points. But he happens to like beautiful Omegas. To prevent himself from becoming obsessed with beauty and delaying his settlement, he treats all good-looking but low-scoring Omegas this way.”
“So that’s how it is.” Lance looked thoughtful.
So Si Hongche and Oliver had faced this same predicament back then. If Si Hongche wanted to quickly start a family in the restricted zone, he needed Oliver to also enter Blue Pivot and work together with him.
Two S-level Awakened ones would undoubtedly be the fastest newcomers in the restricted zone’s history to accumulate enough merit points. From a worldly perspective, their future was indeed bright.
However, with Si Hongche’s current position, he probably no longer cared about a mere thousand merit points. But whether he truly obtained everything he wanted was another question.
“Is Director Si in Second District today?” Lance asked.
For Oliver to obtain Si Hongmei’s belongings, he would inevitably have to work through Si Hongche. If Si Hongche didn’t appear, it would be difficult to proceed.
Loen shook his head: “Director Si isn’t here now. It seems the Council of Elders summoned him.”
Lance: “Oh?”
The Council of Elders was an extremely special existence within the entire Federation. While daily affairs large and small seemed to be decided by congressional votes, the real power was held by the three elders of the Council of Elders.
Bills passed by the Federation Congress still required the Council of Elders’ approval before implementation, and these three elders possessed veto power. Even if only one person opposed in the end, the bill could only be shelved.
The last time they vetoed a bill was eighteen years ago—an application led by a hundred historians to restore the thirty-year historical gap from Dawn Day.
In recent years, perhaps due to declining energy or seeing society had stabilized, the three elders appeared less and less in public and almost never interfered with congressional decisions.
Due to another twenty-year historical gap appearing before and after the Rebellion Suppression, with massive losses of various recorded materials during this period, the public’s impression of the three elders remained stuck several decades ago.
Loen: “I’m not sure either, but in the entire restricted zone, only the Council of Elders could make Director Si drop his current work and rush over immediately.”
Lance: “What work is Director Si busy with now?”
Si Hongche had obviously been swamped with affairs these past days, overworked to the point that every time he appeared, his eyes carried frightening bloodshot veins. Only Oliver could make him give up sleep to go take a look.
Loen shook his head: “I wouldn’t know that. How would important leadership matters be entrusted to someone like me who barely makes the cut?”
Lance squinted thoughtfully for a moment, deciding Si Hongche’s work wasn’t the current priority, so he let it go.
“Oh right, do you know what the adjutant’s name is?”
Although Lauen was puzzled by Lance’s question, he still honestly gave an answer: “His name is Li Chenfeng.”
Lance took out his phone and handed it to Lauen: “Which three characters? Could you please help me write them down?”
Qian Yun twenty-third floor, Council of Elders meeting hall.
The howling autumn wind made this cone-shaped building tremble slightly. The enormous crystal chandelier swayed gently, casting rippling light and shadow like water waves on the thick carpet with vermillion embroidered totems.
Thick brown-yellow curtains hung in front of the eight massive glass windows on both sides. Though it was clearly sunny outside, this place was lit day and night, never easily opening the curtains.
In the center of the meeting hall stood a huge brown round table, completely empty on top, smooth and clean like a mirror.
In front of the round table sat three brown hardwood chairs side by side. On these three chairs sat three elderly people wearing white robes and white wigs.
No one knew their exact ages. When they appeared before others, they had always maintained this mature and dignified appearance.
They half-closed their eyes, hands tucked into their long robes and folded in front of them, quietly waiting for something, their faces showing no emotion.
When Si Hongche entered the meeting hall, he smelled that familiar paraffin scent again. He frowned, his gaze sweeping around the vast space, but found no paraffin products.
Very strange—clearly there were no wax decorations, yet the lingering smell persisted.
Of course, ordinary people couldn’t detect this scent. It was only because he was an S-level Awakened one with particularly keen senses.
“Si Hongche.” The black-eyed elder sitting on the far right spoke. His voice was deep and ethereal, with an indescribable divine quality.
The outside world had always speculated that the reason the three elders of the Council hadn’t appeared publicly for over ten years and rarely participated in political affairs was because they had already possessed fifth-tier abilities and were no longer ordinary humans.
Si Hongche immediately lowered his head. Days of exhaustion had left traces of fatigue all over his face, but before the three elders, he remained respectful, grateful, and humble.
If the Council of Elders hadn’t taken pity on him, chosen him, granted him power, and bestowed their trust, he wouldn’t have his current position.
Control system Awakened ones weren’t considered combat types, and he wasn’t the only S-level talent in Blue Pivot. Yet when the former Second District director suddenly died of illness, the Council of Elders entrusted this heavy responsibility to him, a newcomer.
This kindness he would never forget.
“Whether the secret leaked by Erdiff has been learned by the Black Lantern Society.” The black-eyed elder asked in a deep voice. The other two elders continued listening expressionlessly, showing no intention of speaking.
Si Hongche gathered his spirits to reply: “Currently there’s no evidence indicating the Black Lantern Society has mastered Erdiff’s secret. If Erdiff was burned to death in the fire, with flames rolling, they wouldn’t have detected the released Death Oath Curse.”
When the inspection team arrived, Erdiff had already become charred ash sunk to the lake bottom. Si Hongche had no way to determine his cause of death, so he wouldn’t rashly judge whether the Rebellion Suppression secrets had been leaked.
However, given the gravity of the matter, regarding the Black Lantern Society, they still needed to eliminate them completely.
The black-eyed elder’s eyelids trembled: “A new era is about to arrive. No heretics should exist. Your time is running out.”
Si Hongche nodded: “Please rest assured. Through this period of investigation, Second District hasn’t been without gains. It’s just not yet time to close the net.”
The black-eyed elder slightly lifted his eyelids, seemingly finally showing interest. His dull voice also became less oppressive.
“You’ve found traces of the Black Lantern Society.”
Si Hongche raised his eyes, revealing a cold smile of certain victory: “Not traces of the Black Lantern Society, but something that can draw them out.”
The black-eyed elder remained silent for a long time before raising his hand from within his long robe and waving it: “Go. You understand—don’t be soft-hearted.”
“Yes.” Si Hongche replied, then turned and strode away.
Returning to Blue Pivot from Qian Yun, Si Hongche went straight to his office. He hung his leather jacket on the coat rack beside his desk, quickly removed his watch and threw it beside the computer, then began adjusting next week’s work schedule.
He had barely slept these past two days, all because he’d learned an extremely important clue from a small guild.
He decided to personally go on a business trip to capture that thing that could draw out the Black Lantern Society.
He believed that soon, this illegal organization hiding in darkness and threatening Federation security would be completely annihilated.
Si Hongche had just pressed the confirm key when he heard urgent knocking outside. Before he could give permission, the door was opened without authorization.
Si Hongche frowned in displeasure, but saw his aide looking panicked, lips pale, saying anxiously: “Director, that person…”
##
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
https://t.me/s/official_pokerdom_pokerdom