Northern Asia, District Nine,
Kris stood inside an office building affiliated with the city’s police department, the Black District Police Division, smiling and asking a middle-aged man, “Is it okay to come in?”
“Hmm, come in,” the middle-aged man waved his hand and turned, heading into the office on the left.
Kris straightened his clothes at the sound and followed the man inside.
The office was fairly large, about sixty square meters, but behind the desk sat only one person. He appeared to be around forty, with a mustache shaped like an "八" (the Chinese character for eight), a noticeably broad face, and an intimidating look.
The middle-aged man walked to the desk and placed two stacks of documents in front of the mustachioed man, quietly saying, “Director, this is the last one.”
“Physical exam done?” the mustached man asked, picking up the documents.
“Yes.”
“Hmm, you can leave now.”
“Alright.”
After a brief exchange, the middle-aged man left, and Kris took two steps forward, standing in front of the desk, silently watching as the mustached man examined his documents.
The mustached man frowned as he stared at the information, murmuring to himself, “Kris, 22 years old, 75 kg, 1.82 meters tall… born before the era, native of H Province, J City. Heh, not far from Songjiang. Before joining, you lived in the planned district, parents missing (suspected dead), no relatives… Hmm? Why is there a blank in your resume?”
“I don’t have a resume,” Kris answered with a smile. “Living in the planned district was tough. I just did whatever I could to eat. Who has a resume there?”
“Heh.” The mustached man chuckled. “Before you came, you should’ve written something. It doesn’t look good without a resume in the system.”
“Okay, I’ll fill something out later,” Kris quickly agreed without arguing.
The mustached man continued to examine the information and asked, “No resume, so you’ve never served in the military. Do you have any experience with firearms?”
Kris didn’t hesitate to shake his head. “No.”
“Any criminal history?”
“No.”
The mustached man pondered for a moment, slowly placing the documents down and looking up at Kris, smiling. “In that lawless, unregulated place in the planned district, you managed to get enough money to buy a work and residence permit for the Ninth Special Zone. You’re not just lucky, huh?”
“Not really,” Kris grinned. “Just had some good fortune, met a few important people.”
The mustached man picked up his cup of tea and gave Kris a once-over, nodding slightly. “Hmm, you look sharp.”
Kris smiled but didn’t respond.
The mustached man placed his cup down, clasped his hands, and gave Kris a simple warning: “The Ninth Special Zone is unique. While it’s under the Joint Government’s administration, it enjoys a high level of autonomy. It’s very different from the other eight zones. This area is a melting pot of many ethnicities. In addition to us East Asians, there are plenty of Black and White people... The social environment is very complicated, and there are chaotic situations in some areas that we want to change but can’t right away. As a law enforcement officer, you need to adapt to this environment from all angles.”
“I understand,” Kris nodded seriously.
“And, I don’t care what kind of background you have, but while you’re here with me, you better know your place. Don’t cause trouble, or I’ll take care of you immediately,” the mustached man added, his tone calm.
“Director Li, I’m here to help reduce your troubles,” Kris chuckled.
The mustached man laughed too, then tapped a few times on his desk phone’s touchscreen. He placed his mouth close to the microphone, and after a few seconds, a male voice answered: “Hello, Director. This is the First Criminal Investigation Team.”
“Where’s Yuan Ke?” Director Li asked.
“...Team Leader Yuan is out, just left.”
“I’m sending you a new guy. Come pick him up.”
“Got it, got it.”
“That’s all,” Director Li mumbled, then rubbed his mustache and pressed the hang-up button. “Go wait at the door. Someone will come get you soon. You’ll learn the rules when you get to the team.”
“Okay, Director Li,” Kris nodded, stepping forward and pulling out a small black bag from his pocket, placing it on the desk. “Little Qi specifically told me that the police system in the special zone is very hard to get into. Without your help, I don’t even know how long I’d have to wait for my placement. So, please don’t forget the proper courtesy.”
Director Li opened the bag, and when he saw the diamond inside, which was about the size of a soybean, he paused for a moment. “You guys in the planned district have some serious people. You can get your hands on something like this? Damn, I haven’t seen one of these in years.”
Kris just smiled and didn’t respond.
Director Li casually tossed the bag into a drawer and locked it, looking up at Kris again. “You’re young, but you do have a bit of character.”
“This is all I have,” Kris said, feigning naivety as he scratched his head. Seeing that Director Li wasn’t leaving for lunch right away, he decided to chat a little more.
A few minutes later, a slightly overweight, Kris’s age young man walked into the office, standing tall and saluting. “Report, Director Li. I’m Lin from Team One, here to take the new guy to the team.”
Director Li patted Kris on the arm. “Do well, and I expect to see you at the end-of-year evaluations.”
“Got it,” Kris nodded.
“Alright, go to the team,” Director Li said, pointing to Lin. “Tell Yuan Ke to take care of this guy.”
A diamond, and Kris got a few more minutes of conversation with Director Li, but that seemed to be the extent of it.
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