Ian Song could tell right away that Gordon Gao was just putting on a show—he was all bluster, no bite.
But Ian didn’t care. Dealing with an old slick like this was easy, so he asked, “Five battalions should mean five hundred people, right? How come we’re so short-handed now?”
"Minister Lu, don’t you know why?"
Gordon Gao looked at Ian, genuinely surprised.
"Enlighten me, Old Gao," Ian replied with a grin.
Gordon chuckled, “I wouldn’t dare call it enlightenment. Since you don’t know, let me break it down for you. Being Special Police here is seriously risky. At first, all five battalions were fully staffed, but after a few incidents, some officers died, and others got spooked and quit. That’s why we’re so short-handed now.”
"So why not hire new people?" Ian asked.
"New recruits?" Gordon snorted. "Minister Lu, you must be joking!"
Ian gave him a puzzled look.
"Minister Lu, let me put it this way. We can only recruit Federal citizens. Most people settled in Mesa City are merchants—they don’t care about the salary. Besides, being Special Police here is way more dangerous than on the Homeworld, so nobody local wants the job. The other option is to bring in people from the Homeworld, but tickets here cost tens of thousands, and the pay isn’t any better, so who’d bother? We’ve tried recruiting, but it’s just not happening!"
"So that’s how it is," Ian nodded.
"By the way, Minister Lu, looks like it’s almost lunchtime. How about I treat you to a meal?" Gordon suggested.
"Let me treat you instead, but you pick the place!" Ian laughed.
"Alright, we’ll do it your way," Gordon said, grinning.
Neither of them bothered with a car—they just walked out of the Special Police Base and ended up on a lively old street.
"Where are we?" Ian asked, glancing at Gordon.
Gordon explained, "Minister Lu, you might not know, but Mesa City was expanded from a native town, so some old buildings are still around. This street? It used to be the main street before the expansion."
"It might look a bit messy, but there’s a tavern here with great food and drinks."
They chatted as they walked, and soon arrived at a three-story old building. There was a sign out front, but Ian didn’t recognize the writing—it had to be native Celestian script.
The first floor was already packed.
The second floor was still full.
As soon as they stepped onto the third floor, a still-charming middle-aged woman came over and linked arms with Gordon Gao. "Master Gao, what wind blew you and your big Buddha over to Spring Moon Tavern today?" she teased.
Gordon grinned, "Madam Spring, you’ve got it wrong today. If anyone’s the Buddha, it’s the guy next to me!"
"And who is this gentleman?" The woman’s expression grew serious.
Gordon pointed at Ian. "He’s the newly appointed Minister Lu of our Special Police Department. I brought him here today especially to try your Spring Moon Tavern’s food, so make sure your chef pulls out all the stops!"
Hearing Ian was actually the Special Police Minister, outranking Gordon, Madam Spring was stunned. But she quickly broke into an even warmer smile. "Minister Lu, don’t worry—now that you’re here, I guarantee you’ll eat so well you won’t want to leave!"
"Haha, I’m looking forward to it," Ian replied with a smile.
As they spoke, Madam Spring led Ian and Gordon into an elegantly decorated private room.
Soon after, someone brought in fine wine in a jade bottle.
Ian took a sip and found it pretty good.
Dishes kept coming, and Ian sampled each one. He found the food here had its own flair—maybe not quite as good as his own cooking, but close.
After the meal, when Ian went to pay, Madam Spring flatly refused to accept.
Ian’s face darkened. "If you don’t take my money this time, I won’t come back next time!" he said bluntly.
With no choice, Madam Spring reluctantly accepted 200 credits, though the meal was easily worth over a thousand.
In the blink of an eye, Ian had already spent a week in Mesa City.
During that week, he didn’t make any personnel changes, just focused on gathering intel.
After a week of open and covert investigation, he’d basically figured out the situation.
"Minister Lu, bad news! There’s trouble at Spring Moon Tavern—soldiers are causing a scene!"
Gordon Gao rushed in, looking anxious. In reality, he wasn’t worried at all—he was actually eager to watch Ian make a fool of himself, since the military was notoriously hard to deal with.
"Did you send Special Police over yet?" Ian asked.
Gordon said, "Ryan Zhang from the First Battalion took a team over, but the military guys are out of control. Not only did they ignore our warnings, they even beat up several Special Police!"
Ian glanced at Gordon. "Did you find out which unit they’re from?"
"Should be the 96th Division. The leader’s a Lieutenant Colonel," Gordon replied.
"Let’s go. We’re heading over!"
Ian grabbed his hat, put it on, and strode outside.
Gordon hesitated and called out, "Minister Lu, the military guys are famous for being unreasonable. Maybe we should let them cause trouble first and clean up the mess afterward!"
Ian shot him a look but said nothing.
Watching Ian’s back as he left, Gordon spat on the ground and muttered, "I tried to warn you, but you just had to run headfirst into trouble. If you get yourself killed, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself!"
Spring Moon Tavern.
A crowd had already gathered outside, and the sound of chaos echoed from within.
A group of Special Police stood guard at the entrance, some sporting bruised faces. Their expressions were furious, but beneath the anger was a hint of fear.
"Please, officers, don’t smash anything, okay?"
Madam Spring’s voice came from inside, tinged with tears.
"Get out of my way! If you block me again, I’ll deal with you too!" a brash voice barked from inside.
Just then, a wave of air rippled through the sky. A hovercar stopped above Spring Moon Tavern, and a young man leaped from the car, landing right at the entrance.
"Minister, you’re here!"
Seeing Ian, Ryan Zhang hurried over to greet him.
Ian glanced at the injured Special Police, his face darkening. "Follow me inside!"
"Minister!" Ryan Zhang suddenly grabbed Ian, lowering his voice. "Minister, those people inside are way out of our league. You’d better be careful!"
"Thanks for the warning, but I’m still going in!"
Ian shook off Ryan Zhang’s hand and strode into Spring Moon Tavern. The other Special Police hesitated.
Someone whispered to Ryan Zhang, "Captain, are we going in or not?"
"Are you stupid? The Minister went in—of course we’re going in! Move!" With a wave, Ryan Zhang led the charge into Spring Moon Tavern.