My setting is above yours!

Chapter 66 I look forward to the day you become Lv.5 (4k8)

[Law and Decree Hall]?
Is this the unique title of this Lv.5?
Looking at Leonard, who had a clear sense of apology on his face and dressed and behaved like a noble gentleman from hundreds of years ago, Ron couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

Too strong.

He clearly felt the vast, unbridgeable gap between Leonard and himself.

Such power... is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Putting aside the strength of that power—after all, Leonard was clearly just doing it casually, wanting to give Ron a small test, and hadn't used his full strength at all—

Just by looking at how "comprehensive" his abilities are, you can already see how powerful Leonard is.

It's important to understand that most people's abilities are limited. Just like An Hui's "magnetic field rotation" and You An's "gravity control," these abilities can only partially manipulate a part of reality...

Ability like [Vector Manipulation], which allows you to manipulate all vectors, is already the most comprehensive and powerful type of ability.

But... how many abilities did Leonard just use?
He conjured up a bunch of "people" out of thin air that were completely indistinguishable from the real thing, and subjected Ron to incomprehensible gravitational pressure.

In addition, Leonard also affected Ron's thinking ability, blocking some of his thought processes—

He had been standing at the entrance of the patrol bureau building the whole time, but remained invisible until Ron made the choice to resist, at which point he stopped the trial with satisfaction and revealed himself.

All of this... is something a normal superhuman shouldn't be able to do!

Furthermore, Leonard, despite being so young, refers to himself as an "old man"...

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Ron's forehead.

Looking at the gentleman in front of him who seemed to have traveled from hundreds of years ago, he had already made a judgment in his mind.

The director of the B District General Patrol Bureau, one of the eleven Lv.5s standing at the pinnacle of Ideal City, is very likely a magician!

It might even be a so-called "Grand" magician!

Just then, Leonard looked at Ron, whose face was somewhat stiff, and couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head:
"You seem a little afraid of me?"

You've been found out!
Ron's fingertips trembled slightly. He quickly prepared his speech in his mind, forcing a slightly excited expression as he looked up at Leonard:

"No, I just admire you so much, I was a little excited to see you for the first time..."

He didn't want to appear any special. Regardless of whether Captain Leonard was a magician or not, the fact that he didn't kill Ron the moment he used his ability clearly showed that he didn't intend to be Ron's enemy for the time being.

After all, he wasn't a member of [Noah Medicine]—the Inspection Bureau, after all, belonged to the entire Moen City and the Moen Municipal Government.

Why would Moen Business retaliate against Ron for the failure of Noah Pharmaceuticals?
This is unreasonable!
Perhaps, as long as Ron doesn't show any knowledge of "magicians" or exhibit any other unusual behavior, there shouldn't be any problems...

"I didn't see anything exciting about you just now."

Leonard smiled and joked:
"If all my die-hard fans were like you, I'd probably be the least famous Lv.5 ever..."

Why didn't I just follow Xia Zhi's example and pretend to be a die-hard fan of the [Hall of Laws]...?

Ron gave an awkward smile, a wave of regret washing over him.

Leonard didn't seem to care about Ron's performance. He simply put on his top hat, chuckled, and walked over. Instead, he patted Ron on the shoulder rather affectionately and led Ron into the police station building.

Because it was so late, the patrol bureau building was quite deserted; clearly, many patrol bureau officers had already left work and gone home early.

If Ron hadn't been distracted, he would have noticed the problem immediately.

After all, in Ideal City, let alone Lv.5, as long as there's no money to be made, even if the sky falls, nothing can stop everyone from going home after get off work!

Such things might be less common in private companies, since many companies require employees to work overtime without pay, forcing them to live at the company all day. But the inspection bureau is different...

The General Inspection Bureau of District D has neither funding nor room for advancement. Those who can become inspection officers here are either truly capable and can earn merit in such a place, or they are simply there to retire and go to get off work every day just to get off work.

The idea that they would give up their own time off to form a welcoming party at the entrance of the patrol bureau to welcome a superior from Zone B who was someone they had no connection with at all just doesn't seem right...

Leonard led Ron into the elevator, swiping his work ID as he entered.

Then, unusually, no advertisements popped up on the cold interior walls of the elevator...

Instead, a line of text popped up, with emoticon-like confetti symbols around the edges:

[A warm welcome to Lord Leonard, Head of the Purification Patrol Team, Chief Inspector of District B, and [Law Hall]!]

Ron raised an eyebrow, looking at the walls of the elevator car that should have been covered in advertisements. Leonard, who seemed to notice Ron's confusion, pressed the button for the top floor while teasing him:

"This wasn't something I 'ordered' the carriage advertisements to appear; it was your inspection bureau chief's own initiative..."

Okay, so it turns out that what Leonard just did actually had some basis in reality...

Remembering Xia Zhi's comment that the D District General Inspection Bureau couldn't even afford to buy a function to skip advertisements in elevator cars because of a lack of funds, Ron couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Perhaps it wasn't that they couldn't afford the ad-skip feature; it was simply that the seemingly ordinary, gray-haired bureau chief was unwilling to spend the money.

But now...

Clearly, his desire for advancement had completely overwhelmed his miserly nature.

But... an "order"?
Ron pondered Leonard's words and suddenly realized something—

Perhaps what just happened wasn't the magic Leonard used on him, manifesting various abilities, as Ron thought.

Instead, as a Level 5 ability user, he used his abilities to command reality to become what he wanted it to be.

...Could it be that his power is to command all things?

The thought popped into Ron's mind, then he jolted and immediately banished it from his thoughts.

If it truly could "command everything," that ability would be way too overpowered...

Even [Vector Manipulation] is utterly insignificant in the face of this ability.

After all, if one could truly "command all things," wouldn't that mean being "omniscient and omnipotent" in a certain sense?
We can't keep guessing. These Lv.5 abilities might not even be something Ron, currently at Lv.3, could comprehend...

As Ron thought this, the elevator slowly rose, but there was still quite a distance to go before reaching the top floor.

"I heard you participated in Tianting Media's exclusive investment plan?"

Suddenly, Leonard asked a question, but his tone was completely free of doubt; on the contrary, it was quite certain:

"You want to complete Prometheus's Experiment of Knowledge and become the last Lv.5 in the Ideal City."

It turned out to be because of this!
Upon hearing Leonard's words, Ron couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

He had actually thought about why Leonard, a Level 5, would travel such a long way to award Ron a medal in District D for a small "Level 1 Merit"...

Unexpectedly, it was Ron's desire to complete Prometheus's "experiment of knowledge" that attracted his attention.

What does he want to do?
Could it be that, besides Noah Pharmaceuticals and Tianting Media, Moen Business is also eyeing Prometheus's sector manager authority, and has even prepared a candidate?
Ron felt a cold sweat break out on his back; facing such a powerful figure whom he had absolutely no power to resist was incredibly stressful...

Leonard can't be saying this now just to pave the way for that Lv.5 that [Moen Business] is preparing, and to get rid of Ron, who's standing in his way first, can he?

This is outrageous bullying of the weak!

Ron was ready. He gently raised his finger, hovering it over the Dimensional Update Manual's screen, just a hair's breadth away from pressing "Add to World Save." If this "Hall of Laws" really intended to attack him in the elevator, then he'd have no choice but to temporarily seek refuge in the "Potion Era"...

I don't know when I'll get the next potion for advancement in the "Potion Era," and I don't know what sequence I need to reach to beat Leonard.

Ron silently prepared a plan for a fight to the death.

However, Leonard showed absolutely no intention of attacking Ron.

He simply looked at Ron gently and said:

"Peace of mind."

This sentence seemed to possess some inexplicable magic; a feeling of warmth suddenly rose from the bottom of Ron's heart, and these chaotic thoughts and ideas instantly dissipated. Ron's thinking direction was no longer "negative" but became "positive".

Seeing that Ron had gradually calmed down, Leonard smiled and said:

"The Moen City government has never restricted anyone from pursuing sector access to the [Central Intelligence], not in the past, and certainly not now."

The reason I'm asking you all this is simply to tell you one thing—

As he spoke, his expression turned serious:
"Failure is not shameful. It is perfectly normal to be unable to complete the 'Experiment of Knowledge' or to be unable to defeat your opponent and gain supervisory authority."

"Don't gamble with your life, and don't let others take away your experimental privileges and become heavily involved..."

"Just trying it out is fine... If I remember correctly, the Prometheus Experiment is currently sealed in Laboratory 0 at Moen University, right?"

Leonard took out a gold star medal engraved with a red crescent moon and placed it in Ron's hand:
"You can try to open Lab 0, try your teacher's old method, and see if there's any chance of solving the [Experiment of Knowledge]—but I know you'll definitely fail."

"After the failure, apply to terminate the contract with [Tian Ting Media] and cut off all contact with them."

"Then take this medal to the B District General Inspection Bureau, apply to join the Purification Inspection Team, and enter your identity information... This is a reward I'm giving you for your performance just now."

“Of course,” he said, a hint of mockery in his voice, “if you’re scared now, you can choose to join the Purification Patrol Team… I can sign a contract with you right now.”

……award?
Ron took the medal and noticed a line of numbers engraved on the back—

[12-1]

This is the identification of the 12th Squad of the Purification Patrol... Leonard gave him the opportunity to become the captain of the 12th Purification Squad!
This seems like a pretty good option.

Leonard is right. Completing the "Experiment of Knowledge" is not easy. Besides Euan, Ron may have more enemies who want to compete for the position of "Prometheus" sector manager.

And [Tian Ting Media]... clearly concealed a lot from Ron, and was definitely not on the same page as Ron.

Perhaps more important to them than making Ron a Level 5 is participating in Prometheus's Experiment of Knowledge.

If Ron gets caught up in this struggle for control of Prometheus without any preparation, he may not end up in a good situation.

By joining the Purification Patrol Team through Leonard's appreciation, one can directly become a Level 4. Apart from not having the chance to become a Level 5, the future prospects are obviously very bright.

but……

Ron looked at the medal in his hand, remained silent for a moment, and then put it back into Leonard's hand.

"No... never mind, Commander Leonard."

"Perhaps this is a good choice, but I still prefer to stand at a higher level and see what Ideal City looks like in the eyes of someone like you, a Level 5."

He mimicked Leonard's teasing tone and said casually:

“I think… there’s only one Lv.5 spot left in the entire Ideal City, and I just happen to be the only one. Who can say that this spot wasn’t meant for me?”

"Besides, you probably don't really want me to accept this badge and become a member of the Purification Patrol, do you?"

Ron said, with a pointed remark:

"After all... if you really only want me to become a member of the Purification Patrol and give up Prometheus's Experiment of Knowledge, you could just 'order' me to do it, couldn't you?"

"clever."

"Ideal City really needs fresh blood like you."

Leonard smiled and shook his head, but instead of taking the badge, he forcefully shoved it into Ron's hand:

"Take it if I give it to you... One day, you'll need the identity of the Purification Patrol Team."

"After all... sometimes, without the assistance of the [Central Intelligence], everything becomes extremely difficult."

"Besides, who told you that becoming a member of the Purification Patrol means giving up Prometheus's Experiment of Knowledge?"

He patted Ron on the shoulder, a hint of admiration in his voice:
"I look forward to the day you reach Lv.5."

After saying that, he stopped talking, leaving Ron staring blankly at the badge in his hand, lost in thought.

After a long while, the elevator finally reached the top floor. When the door opened, Xia Zhi and the members of the C-112 team were all tidying up the director's office with him.

Now, the once empty office has been transformed into an awards ceremony venue, with everyone dressed formally and banners welcoming Leonard hanging everywhere...

It seems the director really wants to advance his career; this is supposed to be Ron's medal ceremony, but it's been turned into something like Leonard's welcome party.

Upon seeing Leonard, Xia Zhi and the director immediately erupted with unimaginable enthusiasm—

One is simply admiration for a senior figure on the front lines of the fight against evil, while the other is flattery and expectation towards one's superior...

Leonard seems to be very good at dealing with people like Xia Zhi and the director. It seems that he has already dealt with many fans and knows how to manage subordinates.

However, they did not forget their main task.

After a few brief rehearsals, the chief took out a standard name tag from his drawer, bearing Ron's name and a single gold star as an embellishment.

That gold star represents the "first-class merit" he received.

Leonard smoothly awarded Ron the medal, and the director took a few photos as required for publicity, which were then hung on the publicity wall at the entrance of the patrol bureau. The medal ceremony was thus resolved.

Incidentally, there aren't many decorated operators listed on this bulletin board, and the vast majority of them have already been transferred to Area C or even Area B...

Now, only the director and Xia Zhi have their names displayed on the propaganda wall and are still reporting to the D District Inspection Bureau.

Now there's Ron too.

Seemingly due to being quite busy, after completing the medal-awarding ceremony, Commander Leonard politely declined the director's request to "have a simple meal".

He said he had something to take care of in Zone B, and as soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared inexplicably, as if erased by an eraser.

Once Leonard left, everyone lost interest in getting together and the party quickly ended.

Xia Zhi was the only one left who, because she was quite familiar with Ron, dragged Ji Jin along, intending to freeload off Ron's victory celebration dinner.

Let him freeload. Anyway, as long as Ron doesn't spend too much money now, he has the big spender [Tian Ting Media] to cover it up. He doesn't have to be so stingy with small amounts of money like he used to when he was poor.

After having dinner with Xia Zhi and Ji Jin, Ron returned to Area B to continue disguising himself as a Level 2 and complete the ability enhancement project planned for him by [Tian Ting Media].

Time flies, and before long, it was time for school to start...

(End of this chapter)