Gui Bin looked unhappily at the takeaway he had ordered. He had been looking forward to it, but though his stomach was still rumbling with hunger, orders were orders. He could only endure the pangs and make his way out of the house.
Riding in the backseat of a taxi, Gui Bin closed his eyes to rest. He was not an idiot. He had rarely seen the department head in person ever since he had joined. And now that he had received such urgent summons, he knew that this likely led back to the video from earlier.
He felt a vague excitement. Although there was no guarantee that the event was real, and that it was merely a means for the US to cover up something else, this might perhaps be the only genuine supernatural occurrence the department had ever faced. It was exactly the sort of thing that he had always wanted to find.
He calmed himself again.
It didn’t take long for the cab to arrive at the city hall. As the department had little to no staff, their lack of official office space couldn’t be helped. Whenever they needed to convene they would find an empty room in the city hall and discuss the latest scammers and frauds they had found out. After finishing the meeting they’d have dinner together before returning to their homes.
The department kept a large database of ‘supernatural’ practitioners. This made it easy to understand each situation of fraud by consulting their records. The proceeding investigation could then continue more smoothly.
After showing his ID to the guard, Gui Bin walked towards an isolated conference room inside the building. This was their usual point of gathering, and it had eventually become something like their office.
Now, however, the conference room was quite different from what it normally was. Previously it would be a simple walk to the room with no interruptions to speak of, but now the corridor was packed with numerous guards. He had to undergo a thorough body search and detailed investigation of his identity before he could enter.
“Little Gui is here. Everyone has been waiting for you.”
There was a small round table inside the waiting room with not many people seated. Except for his boss, a forty-something-year-old pot-bellied man, the rest were his colleagues. In total there were only five people in the department.
“Chief, you……”
Gui Bin began to protest at the chief’s choice of moniker, but the next moment his body stiffened. This was because he saw the person at the head of the table.
As an employee of the Ministry of National Defense, Gui Bin naturally knew the healthy old man. He was the Minister of Defense, and he often appeared in news broadcasts.
“Good day, sir!”
Gui Bin quickly straightened his back and saluted in a sloppy way – he wasn’t a soldier after all.
“Relax Comrade Gui, and please take a seat. I came over this time to familiarize myself with your department. You are the last to arrive, so it’s a pleasure to finally meet you..”
The minister had a kind face. After sizing up Gui Bin, he beckoned him to sit down.
Just as Gui Bin sat down, the minister stood up and smiled at him. Then he spoke to Gui Bin’s boss beside him, “Little Si, I am now acquainted with everyone in your department. Next, I will leave you to explain things to them according to what we discussed before.”
“Yes, sir! I will definitely accomplish this task!”
The chief of the department stood up and gave a standard military salute.
The minister nodded in satisfaction, patted Gui Bin on the shoulder, and left the place with the guards.
The tension in the room disappeared upon his exit. Several of Gui Bin’s colleagues began to chatter among themselves. As they were used to being in the chief’s company, they felt no need to be nervous.
“Okay, everyone, be quiet for a moment.”
Chief Si clapped his hands and brought order to the room once again.
“First of all, let me tell everyone the good news. Everyone present, including me, is now promoted two levels!”
Chief Si’s face was full of smugness as if his suffering had finally ended.
“Chief, will our wages increase?”
“What a nonsensical question! Of course, they will!”
Chief Si glared at his subordinate, indicating that he should not interrupt him.
“Secondly, you should not call me chief anymore. We are now known as the 9th Emergency Special Disaster Management Team. In the future, call me team leader. Also, we now have our own office space. We don’t need to borrow a room in the city hall anymore, and can directly go to our office in the August 1st Building.
“Wow……”
The crowd suddenly clamored. Naturally, they knew what the building was, it was the Ministry of National Defense HQ.
Having an office there meant that they were finally recognized to enter the core location.
“All right, everyone, take it easy. In the future, our treatment will be very good. The higher-ups will not only send guards to protect us but also provide resources to us, who are called the most experienced in this field.”
Team leader Si paused. His face gradually became serious, “You should all know what is happening, right?”
Everyone put away their joy and gave a heavy nod. The matter of the video was too big. It was simply impossible for them to remain ignorant. Naturally, they also knew that they were not the only ones taking action. Their group was only one of the many responsible departments.
“The higher-ups had professionals check the authenticity of the video. Since they could not find any traces of post-processing, then it’s probably real!”
A word from their team leader made everyone inhale hard with a vague excitement.
What did it mean? It meant that dragons and magic existed. Going a bit deeper, it also meant that legends and myths might also be real!
“Before we discuss what to do next, everyone will sign a new confidentiality agreement.”
Team leader Si placed a stack of paper in front of each person.
As long as a person worked for the Ministry of National Defense, it was inevitable for them to sign these kinds of agreements, but depending on the level of confidentiality, the content of the agreements would differ. What they were now signing were stricter terms compared to before.
“Let me state in advance. After signing this agreement, you will immediately be court-martialed for leaking state secrets if you reveal anything to outsiders.”
Team leader Si spoke with a serious expression.
But his team members did not think much at all. After giving the terms a brief look, they all signed their names.
It would be a joke if they didn’t sign it. This was simply a rare opportunity to possibly get in touch with the secret truth of the world. How could they just let this chance go!
“Very well, since everyone has signed the confidentiality agreement, take a look at these photos.”
The team leader used a projector to display images on the wall, “This is a photo taken by one of ours in Brazil, so pay attention to it.”
He operated the computer to show the images. The images were photos of U.S. forces wearing biochemical suits and searching through the Amazon jungle. There were tanks and helicopters accompanying them. In the last photo, a safe was being carried away by the U.S. military on a helicopter.
“This photo was taken in the Amazon jungle by one of our country’s satellites. You can see that there is a clear trail running for around 100 kilometers. Whatever the cause, it must be large. As you well know by now, this corroborates with the information we gleaned from the online video. Thus, it has a 90% chance of being real.
Everyone looked nervously at the photos with bated breaths.
“Team leader, the safe being protected by the U.S. Army likely contains some body parts of the dragon!”
Gui Bin spoke with excitement.
“That’s right. The higher-ups had also speculated this, but only the American government knows what’s really inside. They may have obtained something important before us.”
Team leader Si took a puff of his cigarette and said, “Other countries are probably doing the same thing as us now. We have already allied with Russia, Europe, Japan, and other powerful international forces in asking the American government to disclose detailed information.”
Gui Bin felt that this was natural. In this kind of event that potentially involved the secrets of supernatural power, even allies of the United States of America would work against it. Only through collective pressure could they force out any information.
“Our economy has grown significantly over the past 30 years, and now only the US stands above us in that regard. That said, we are lacking the kind of diplomatic capital they possess. This is a good opportunity to improve our general diplomatic position.”
“Perhaps we might even become the leaders of this coalition. This is a rare opportunity where almost any outcome will be good for us.”
Hearing the words of the team leader, Gui Bin looked at him in amazement. It was the first time he found out that their leader, who dawdled all day, had this kind of political awareness!
“Gentlemen, after today, everyone’s going to be busy. Your days of lazing around are now over. Everyone will report to the new workplace this afternoon. If this thing is real and not some conspiracy by the United States of America, then the world will change!”
The team leaders every single word contained heavy implications.
……
Governments around the world were busy mobilizing resources to organize new departments. Satellites were continuously monitoring the world, looking for the giant dragon that had disappeared.
And the one who started everything, Louie, was at the Pacific Ocean, unleashing the spell contained inside the Crown of Dominance again – [Dominate Human]!
