Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 467 might be released, or it might not.

Five o'clock in the morning.

It was five o'clock in the winter, far from dawn, and Lu Chongming returned to the processing bureau at this time, an hour later than he had originally set for himself. However, no one complained about him.

He noticed that many of the on-duty standby posts had been mobilized, leaving the bureau somewhat empty.

"Has something serious happened?" Lu Chongming asked the young lady on duty again.

"You didn't know?" The young woman was a little surprised. "I thought you were late because you just went straight there halfway."

"I went to deal with other issues, so what happened?"

"Captain Dash and Captain Song Cheng, along with the several squads they led, all perished in the line of duty," the young woman said in a low voice.

Lu Chongming blinked.

Oh, is this what Mr. Illusion meant when he said he dealt with the other party's batch of personnel?
Mr. Illusion couldn't remember the other person's name, so his description was vague, and Lu Chongming assumed he was just some low-level thug. However, upon closer inspection, even a five-year veteran captain like Kang Zhengshan was one of their men.

To gain the trust of such a discreet and unassuming person, one must be quite remarkable.

Dashi and Songcheng were both captains who had been serving in Jiangwen Street long before the earthquake. Although they had not been captains for as long as Kang Zhengshan, their qualities and abilities were stronger than Kang Zhengshan's.

Song Cheng even challenged Zhang Xue, the chief, wanting to compete head-on.

The result is that Zhang Xue's position as the chief of the street is very secure. Apart from the problems caused by her own negligence, there is no sign of her position being shaken.

The fact that Dash and Song Cheng, along with their veteran squad, all died within a mysterious ten minutes is itself quite mysterious, and the impact of the incident on the Bureau's official statements is clearly negative.

Already facing a shortage of both quantity and quality of manpower, the bureau is now suffering a major blow to both, which is a huge setback to the authority it is trying to rebuild.

However, after realizing what kind of entity Dash and Song Chengzhen truly belonged to, and what many shady things they were secretly doing, Lu Chongming couldn't say whether the deaths of these two people and their team were a good thing or a bad thing.

"This is probably the biggest scandal the Jiangwen Subdistrict Office has faced in the months since the earthquake. They definitely need to find a way to deal with it and give an explanation, so they've mobilized a lot of manpower. Captain Lu, are you interested? If you succeed, it will be another great achievement," the duty officer said sarcastically.

Lu Chongming said, "Even Captain Dash and Captain Song Cheng died mysteriously. How can a newly promoted squad leader like me take all this blame? Let's talk about it later. Is the Chief here?"

"The chief didn't go back tonight. You've come at the perfect time. He's about to go out and investigate that matter. If you had come any later, you might have missed it." The young lady shrugged and told Lu Chongming what she was thinking.

"Thank you, this is a late-night snack for you... or rather, breakfast?" Lu Chongming handed over a box of xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).

"Wow, Captain Lu, you're so kind!"

After accepting the calligraphy, Lu Chongming went to Chief Zhang Xue's office with ease, knocked on the door, and was instructed to enter.

The sight of the messy desk tells you that Chief Zhang Xue has just had another sudden bout of madness.

"chief……"

"Xiao Lu? You've come at the right time. Dash and Song Cheng have died mysteriously. You're coming with me." Zhang Xue turned around and saw Lu Chongming, so she called him over.

"Chief Zhang Xue, have you been here all night?"

"Nonsense! We agreed tonight was Christmas Eve! Who killed two werewolves? Did the witch do it too?! Where's my Seer?!" Zhang Xue started going crazy again.

The neighborhood chief was peeking out at his reflection in the window, breathing on it. This pathetic sight was something Lu Chongming had never seen before. It was hard to imagine that this widowed woman was on the same level as the reliable and mature Chief Bai Shi.

Lu Chongming glanced around the office.

Although Zheng Fan had said beforehand that Zhang Xue was fine, and that she was not intelligent enough to be a mastermind or collude with such a thing, Lu Chongming still confirmed it in his own way just to be on the safe side.

He's really scared now.

And to be honest, Zhang Xue is inextricably linked to the current state of Jiangwen Street.

She is the chief of the executive branch of the Jiangwen Street Management Bureau, but she can't even control the people under her command. The decadence of her early years made the internal corruption of Jiangwen Street one of the factors that led to the Changsheng Society incident, and the current situation can be regarded as a recurrence of the past poison.

Although he really wanted to curse her out, Lu Chongming felt it was probably not his place to say it.

“There’s a problem, Chief,” Lu Chongming said.

"What? Tell me on the way."

"If we talk about it now, it won't be safe once we go out."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xue, who was in a great hurry, stopped and turned to look at him.

“Based on the current progress of the investigation, Captain Dash and Captain Song Cheng should have been on patrol early this morning. Although our patrol routes are not strictly regulated, I checked and the maximum possible overlap time between their patrol areas should be around 2 a.m. However, the records show that they suddenly met at 3 a.m. at a point where their patrol routes did not overlap and began to carry out an unknown mission,” Lu Chongming said directly.

Zhang Xue said, "They are acquaintances, and it's normal for them to slack off during patrols and meet up for drinks. As you said, the patrol routes aren't strict. As long as their teams maintain the patrol network, we won't interfere with the specific details of the routes within the network during normal times, because different teams have different habits and personnel combinations."

"..." "Okay." Looking at Lu Chongming's eyes, Zhang Xue sighed: "I know, I know that there are people in the bureau causing trouble. In fact, there have been too many in the past. I experienced a lot on my way to the top. If I hadn't been good enough and stupid enough, plus had some other background, I probably would have become one of them halfway through."

"Chief, you..."

“I’m not saying this to excuse my inaction. What’s that saying again? ‘No snowflake is innocent in an avalanche,’ right?” Zhang Xue shook her head, her greasy and messy hair, which had been neglected for a long time, fluttering in the wind.

"Have you ever thought about truly breaking this status quo? This earthquake could have been an opportunity!" Lu Chongming said earnestly.

“I have thought about this issue, but at present I can only guarantee that the newly joined members will not be assimilated by the remnants of the past. The various new rules and regulations have imposed many restrictions, but to be honest, they do not have a significant impact on that deeply rooted shadow.”

Zhang Xue was no longer in a hurry. She picked up her coffee, which had long since gone cold, and took a sip. "The director's position is vacant, so I'm essentially holding two positions at once. While my power has increased, I've also been subject to many constraints. Although I'm still the chief, the criminal record regarding my mistake that led to the Longevity Society incident hasn't been cleared. I'm only at the level of 'making amends for my crimes'."

After saying that, she muttered to herself, "What a hassle."

At this point, she looked at Lu Chongming: "You came here this time to test my stance and true colors, right? Lu, although I don't know what you've experienced in these short five hours, and you probably even know exactly how Dash and Song Cheng died, it's clear from your eyes that you want to overturn all of this."

"I can't do it alone."

“I see…” Zhang Xue nodded.

“You’re the head of the neighborhood, you should do something.” Lu Chongming stepped forward.

Zhang Xue met Lu Chongming's gaze and raised her head slightly: "Do you expect me, someone who has been slacking off for so many years, to give up my current wealth and status to help you because of your passion? As long as I stop here and do nothing, the people behind me will probably treat me as nothing, just like before, and we'll keep to ourselves."

Lu Chongming's hands were already behind his back.

The atmosphere in the office became somewhat heavy.

Suddenly, Zhang Xue burst out laughing: "It seems like it might actually work. It would be best if I could leave the company without any problems."

Lu Chongming: ?

A little sluggish.

What happened? He thought they were about to fight when they were so tense just now.

"Relax, of course I'll help you if you're willing to do it. Just as you said, this is a great opportunity. I was still looking for people and preparing for a covert investigation, and then you delivered yourself right to my door." Zhang Xue sat back down in her office chair, smiling and waving her hand.

How could this chief be so despicable?
Lu Chongming was speechless for a moment.

"But then again, if I hadn't agreed, you weren't planning to attack me directly, were you?" Zhang Xue said, narrowing her eyes.

"Well... no matter what, it would be unwise to attack the chief here," Lu Chongming said with a forced smile.

Lu Chongming used a magic trick to hide the black sparrow puppet on his back.

Black Sparrow Hand Puppet: "Boring."

After a barely audible sound, Zheng Fan's dull eyes lost their luster, and he went elsewhere.

"Hmph~." Zhang Xue remained noncommittal. "Alright, let's investigate Dash and Song Cheng's matter next, and we can discuss the rest later."

Lu Chongming nodded.

"You've been here a little too long. Go out first, and I'll get ready again," Zhang Xue said, waving her hand.

After Lu Chongming left somewhat awkwardly and closed the door, Zhang Xue finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn brat, you came in with a murderous aura, do you think I'm stupid?"

What an unwise choice! He clearly planned to expose himself if he had any problems.

Lu Chongming definitely has someone backing her, someone even stronger and more powerful than Zhang Xue herself.

Zhang Xue was willing to trust Lu Chongming not only because Lu Chongming had a clean record and was willing to help, but also because of his strength, which might be able to provide assistance.

She wasn't lying; she knew that breaking the deadlock that the Jiangwen Street office had built up over the years was far from enough for her alone.

Lu Chongming also breathed a sigh of relief as he stood at the door.

As Zheng Fan said, Zhang Xue is the most capable force that can be won over if there are no major problems, but if there are problems, then let Zheng Fan go up and deal with her on the spot, and then solve the problem by force.

However, Lu Chongming was not so easily swayed by his anger as to abandon everything else.

If the entire Jiangwen Street Management Bureau were to be shut down in one fell swoop, the current Jiangwen Street would be greatly affected, and even then, it might not necessarily solve the problem of the deeply hidden mastermind.

Calm down, don't rush. Zheng Fan said it won't take long.

(End of this chapter)