Girl, you form the head.

Chapter 19 Police Inspector
Dyson stared at Bai Chi with a dark expression, then put down his pen and said coldly, "Officer Bai Chi, it seems you're quite dissatisfied."

"Dissatisfied?" Bai Chi shook his head. "I have no dissatisfaction."

“Heh, you better not.” Dyson stared at Incandescence. “You should know who you are.”

“My name is Bai Chi, and I am a second-level police officer at the Hanguang Precinct,” Bai Chi replied.

Dyson's expression grew even colder.

To be honest, Bai Chi's response was somewhat unexpected; he hadn't anticipated that Bai Chi would be so assertive.

A mere second-level police officer dared to speak rudely to the director of the General Bureau after only being suppressed a little.

If it were someone else, they would have been dismissed by now.

But this guy had just earned a first-class merit, and on his way here he had also taken care of a fugitive, almost making the news. At this time, even he, as the director of the General Bureau, dared not deal with him casually.

But that doesn’t mean Dyson has no way to deal with him.

"A second-level police officer who's been on the job for a year, but somehow ended up receiving a first-class merit award," Dyson asked. "Do you think that's appropriate?"

"I think it's quite appropriate."

Dyson's eyelid twitched.

This guy……

"Do you think you have the ability to kill a Tier 3 Specialist?" Dyson questioned.

“I think I am,” Bai Chi replied, “because I was the one who killed him.”

With a loud bang, Dyson slammed his hand on the table: "You're too arrogant!"

He was really angry.

He's just a lowly second-level police officer in Hanguang District! Why do you dare to talk back to him again and again?
In Dyson's original plan, this guy should have become terrified under his series of suppressions, and then he could take the opportunity to reduce the rewards stipulated in the regulations.

But now, this guy is completely unpredictable and even dares to confront him head-on!

Why are you? !

“I’m not being arrogant.” Bai Chi shook his head. “I’m just stating the facts. Liang Rong was indeed killed by me.”

"I don't acknowledge this fact. In my opinion, you're nothing more than a thief of credit." Dyson was too lazy to argue with Bai Chi and simply threw the commendation certificate he had prepared beforehand in front of Bai Chi. "Take this and get out!"

Bai Chi looked down and saw that it was a third-level commendation order.

“I’ll give you two choices,” Dyson said. “One, you can stay in your rank but be transferred to headquarters. Two, you can stay in the Han Kuang Precinct but get a promotion. The choice is yours.”

Having said that, Bai Chi naturally understood Dyson's meaning.

So that was the purpose from the beginning? No wonder I was angry instead of pleased when he offered his well-intentioned advice.

Bai Chi looked at the commendation order and seemed to be deep in thought.

Although he didn't think he would get the full first-class award from the beginning, since on the surface he did seem to have gotten a lucky break.

Even if he couldn't get all of it, getting 70-80% wouldn't be a problem, especially since he had taken care of Ito Kou on the way here. But now it seems Dyson clearly doesn't want to include Ito Kou in the calculations, otherwise the reward wouldn't have been reduced to this extent.

A first-level police officer can be considered a senior police officer. There are only a few in a precinct, and it normally takes more than ten years of service to reach that level.

But even a senior police officer is still just a police officer; he doesn't reach the level of a police officer. At least one must become a superintendent to be considered a police officer.

Bai Chi wasn't greedy for the position itself, but he needed higher authority to do more things.

Therefore, Bai Chi felt he couldn't back down here, so he shook his head: "I refuse this award."

"What did you say?" Dyson's eyes narrowed little by little.

“I say, I refuse such an award.” Bai Chi met Dyson’s gaze without flinching. “You should at least give me the rank of Superintendent, Director General.”

Are you trying to bargain with me?

“I’m just fighting for what I deserve,” Bai Chi said calmly.

The atmosphere in the office instantly became oppressive, to the point that Dyson's secretary didn't dare to utter a sound.

He hadn't expected Bai Chi to be so assertive, even though he was just a low-ranking police officer at the branch office. Even Lei Hu, the chief of the Han Guang branch office, wouldn't dare raise his voice in front of Dyson.

But what gives this guy the right to do this?

Was the commendation given by the Director General really that low? It was just downgraded from first-class to third-class.

Do you know how many low-ranking police officers like you, without connections, spend their entire lives trying to transfer to the new district? Now that you've been given this opportunity, why don't you cherish it? Even if you don't want to come, being a first-class police officer and getting a one-third raise every month—isn't that enough?
Why must he insist on receiving a first-class commendation and becoming a police officer?
It's just that we killed two vicious fugitives and saved a few dozen or a hundred people. Don't be so arrogant!
The secretary was internally ranting.

At this moment, the standoff between Baichi and Dyson had reached its lowest point.

Dyson stared intently at Bai Chi, and slowly said, "If I don't give it to you, what can you do..."

Just then, the phone on the desk rang abruptly.

Dyson initially didn't want to answer, but when he saw the caller's number, he frowned and gave Bai Chi a cold look before answering the phone.

"Mr. Mayor, it's me."

Yes, he has arrived.

"I didn't... Okay, I understand."

Dyson's face visibly darkened.

After the call ended, the look in his eyes when he looked at Bai Chi was more like that of someone who wanted to kill.

Bai Chi also guessed something from his eyes.

Sure enough, a moment later Dyson spoke: "Go to the General Affairs Department to collect your new police rank and position."

It seems he's secured the position of superintendent.

Bai Chi thought to himself, then nodded and turned to leave.

But Dyson stopped her before she left.

"I don't know how you got in touch with the mayor, but I have to remind you that the mayor only has one month left in his term."

Bai Chi turned around and found that Dyson had already sat back down, but his eyes were still cold, like those of a venomous snake.

“We will meet again,” Dyson said, emphasizing each word, “Inspector Blaze.” ...

"Here are your uniform and rank insignia. Please keep them safe, Inspector Bai Chi."

In the General Affairs Department, a young policewoman handed the uniform to Bai Chi with a look of disbelief on her face.

After all, she had never really seen such a young police inspector before.

When Bai Chi took the uniform and saw the gleaming rank of Second-Class Police Inspector, he was equally surprised.

How did he become a police inspector?
In South Rome, police officer ranks are divided into five levels.

They are respectively Superintendent, Inspector General, Commissioner General, Senior Commissioner General, and Commissioner General.

Among them, the ranks of police superintendent, police inspector and police commissioner are further divided into first-level and second-level, while senior police commissioner and chief police commissioner are not.

The position that Bai Chi initially wanted to obtain was that of a police superintendent, which is the most basic police officer position, such as the head of a department, the captain or squad leader of the pursuit team.

Police inspectors are different. Take the Hanguang Precinct as an example. The entire precinct only has two police inspectors: the deputy precinct chief and the chief of the pursuit team.

As for Director Lei Hu, he is a second-level police supervisor, above the police inspector.

In other words, Bai Chi, as a second-level police inspector, would already be among the top three figures in the Hanguang District Police Station.

This far exceeded his expectations and was beyond the scope of a first-class commendation.

Was it the mayor's interference?
Bai Chi recalled the phone call he had just made in Dyson's office.

It's true that the mayor should have helped him, but why? He didn't even know that mayor.

Bai Chi was a little confused, but fortunately, this confusion did not bother him for long. Soon, an unfamiliar phone call came to his cell phone.

Before the call even connected, Bai Chi already knew who it was.

"Is this Inspector Bai Chi? This is Li Xin." A rather tired middle-aged male voice came from the phone.

Bai Chi lowered his head and looked at the newspaper he had read earlier, which was titled "Current Mayor Li Xin is deeply embroiled in bribery scandal, and his approval rating hits a new low." The middle-aged man in the newspaper looked worried and forced a smile at the reporters who came to interview him.

"Hello, Mayor."

"You didn't deny how I addressed you? It seems Chief Dyson did follow my orders after all," Li Xin said with a smile. "Congratulations, Inspector Bai Chi, you deserve it."

“No,” Bai Chi said. “According to the rules, I shouldn’t be a police inspector, I should be a police superintendent.”

"Heh, you're really blunt. Do you not want to be associated with me, the mayor who's about to step down?" Li Xin said. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to bribe you or do you any favors. I'm just giving you what you deserve."

"What I deserve?"

“Yes,” Li Xin said. “Logically speaking, a young police officer who gets the highest score in history on his graduation exam should start in the best police station as a first-class police officer. And this young officer has made two major contributions in just one year, so he should be promoted directly to first-class police superintendent, and then become a police inspector through normal promotion in five or six years. No one would think such a resume is wrong, or rather, the world should be like this.”

Bai Chi didn't speak, but he already understood what Li Xin meant.

“But what is reality?” Li Xin said softly. “This young policeman, who scored the highest in history on his graduation exam, was assigned to the most remote police station upon joining the force, starting as a regular second-level police officer… It was wrong from the very beginning. Yes, this script was wrong from the very beginning.”

Bai Chi detected a hint of undisguised helplessness in Li Xin's tone, as if the person he was lamenting was not Bai Chi, but himself.

"Alright, Inspector Bai Chi, don't overthink it." Li Xin's tone quickly returned to normal. "You should have been in this position all along, but your starting point was delayed by someone else, so I've moved your destination forward a bit. But that's all I can do, and it's not without its price. It will be very difficult for you to get promoted after this, and it's basically impossible for you to be transferred back to headquarters... But that may not be a bad thing."

Li Xin gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"Alright, I have to go to my next meeting," he said. "Take care, Inspector Whitefire."

After saying that, he hung up the phone so quickly that it seemed as if he was afraid people would think he had some kind of relationship with Bai Chi.

Bai Chi stared thoughtfully at the darkened phone screen.

"Um, Inspector Bai?" the policewoman asked cautiously, "Is there anything else?"

"That's all." Bai Chi put away his phone, and just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. "By the way, could I go to the archives?"

……

In Dyson's office, his secretary poured him tea while cautiously asking, "Chief, why is Mayor Li Xin doing this? He's got a lot of trouble himself right now, how can he still have the mind to care about such a lowly policeman?"

"It's because he's got a mess of shit in his ass now, so he just does whatever he wants." Dyson took a sip of hot tea, barely calming down from his earlier anger, and then said sarcastically, "He probably saw that this guy also came from that wretched place, Hanguang District, and started to feel sorry for him."

"Could it be that he wants to groom that young policeman into his trusted confidant?"

“How could that be? At best, he’s just a minor police inspector, and a minor one at that in the Hanguang District. If he really had ambitions, why wouldn’t he transfer this guy to headquarters?” Dyson said coldly. “Even if he did have such ambitions, he doesn’t have the ability to do so now. A second-level police inspector in the Hanguang District is the best thing he can offer, as he’s about to step down in a month.”

Dyson paused for a moment, then revealed another sinister smile.

"But didn't he ever consider that we can't get back what he's given away?"

……

Bai Chi stayed in the General Administration's archives for another half hour, until the sun had completely set and the policewoman beside him was almost falling asleep, before he finally looked up from the files.

"Is that all?" Bai Chi asked.

The half-asleep policewoman was startled awake: "Oh, are we off duty already?"

Then she realized it was Bai Chi who was asking her the question, and immediately looked embarrassed: "Excuse me, Inspector Bai, what did you just say?"

"It's nothing." Bai Chi handed the file back. "Close it."

"Oh, oh, oh." The policewoman nodded with a sigh of relief, immediately picked up the file and walked back.

Bai Chi looked at the archives room in front of him, which was many times larger than the Han Guang branch office, and shook his head.

There are simply too many files here, and the vast majority of them overlap with those in the Hanguang Precinct. It's impossible to finish reviewing them in a short time, so there's no point in wasting time.

It would be great if he could be transferred here to be an archivist; I don't know if he'll ever have that opportunity.

I'm off work now, and there's no way I can get back to Hanguang District at this hour.

Oh, it doesn't seem like it's impossible. He's a police inspector now, so theoretically the patrol officers guarding the bridge can't stop him.

But was it necessary to go back at this time? He felt he still had something to do.

Fortunately, he remembered quickly, so he opened his phone, selected the pinned number from the dozen or so numbers he had just written down, and dialed it.

"Yan Le?" Bai Chi asked politely. "Can we meet up?"

(End of this chapter)