PDLP Chapter 2 I Want to See the National Guard
Chapter 2 I Want to See the National Guard
Captain Chen stopped writing.
He stared at the eighteen or nineteen-year-old across from him for a full five seconds, then closed his laptop and slammed it on the table.
"Guardian Dragon Guardian Ga".
He repeated those four words, as if to make sure he hadn't misheard.
"You're just a high school graduate who recently transferred to another job, and you're asking to see the Zhenguo Dragon Guard? Do you know the level of secrecy this unit has? Don't even mention me, a criminal investigation captain in a branch office; even the director of the city bureau would need special approval from above to see them."
Lu Yan remained silent.
Captain Chen pushed his chair back, rested his arm on the back of the chair, and changed his posture.
His gaze shifted several times as he looked at Lu Yan, finally settling on those overly calm eyes.
The eighteen-year-old boy sat in the interrogation room of the police station, facing a veteran police officer who had been working in criminal investigation for more than twenty years, without showing any fear.
This is not normal.
Captain Chen has seen far too many people come to report crimes. Some are nervous, some are angry, and some are on the verge of collapse.
Only those who are methodical, have a clear purpose, and perfectly control the pace of information release are either carefully prepared con artists or actually possess something of substance.
"Young man, let me be frank with you." Captain Chen's tone softened. "I wouldn't call myself a selfless hero, but I've been a police officer for 23 years, and I've always been upright and honest. Go ask around the entire branch, and no one has ever said a bad word about me. If you need anything, just tell me first, and I'll help you get in touch with whoever I can."
Lu Yan observed him.
A seasoned criminal investigator of 23 years, he speaks without bureaucratic jargon and proactively reveals his hand to build rapport.
The key is in their eyes—there was no perfunctory attitude, no condescension, they were genuinely listening attentively.
Having worked in the shady business world in his past life, Lu Yan had dealt with all sorts of people. He could tell who was acting and who was speaking human language.
This Captain Chen, at least so far, hasn't been acting.
But simply being "trustworthy" is not enough.
What he needs is a direct route to the Zhenguo Dragon Guard; every additional intermediary increases the risk.
"Captain Chen, it's not that I don't believe you."
Lu Yan moved forward a bit. "But the more people who handle the information I have through the regular reporting process, the greater the chance of it being leaked. I need to meet with the Zhenguo Dragon Guards face-to-face to discuss this."
Captain Chen remained silent for a few seconds.
"The way you're talking makes it sound like you have some kind of superhuman ability."
"Let the Dragon Guards verify if they have the ability," Lu Yan said. "If I'm lying, I'll accept the legal consequences of filing a false police report. But if I'm telling the truth, Captain Chen, every day this matter is delayed, China will suffer a loss."
That last sentence hit the nail on the head.
Captain Chen was a former soldier who transferred to civilian work as a criminal investigator.
Over the years, watching batches of Chinese expedition teams enter and leave with large numbers of members lost, I can't help but have some thoughts.
The equipment gap in the secret realm is obvious. The awakened ones from the White Eagle Empire walk around in their dark gold sets, while the Chinese side is still using a lot of trash equipment to fill the gap and kill people.
He didn't ask any more questions.
He took his phone out of his pocket and found a number without a name in the contacts.
I've had the number saved for six years, but I've never dialed it.
Six years ago, a large-scale riot occurred in the Jiangzhou C Chaotic Secret Realm.
Monsters have emerged from the secret realm.
In the chaos, an unidentified female officer was driven to the brink of despair in order to kill the monster.
After finally defeating the monster, the turbulent secret realm generated a huge suction force.
At the time, Captain Chen was on temporary assignment in the city's special police detachment, leading a team to carry out perimeter security duties at the secret realm. He managed to lead three special police officers to rush into the entrance of the secret realm and rescue the person.
Afterwards, the female officer didn't say much, but gave him a metal badge the size of a thumb.
The front of the badge features a coiled dragon design.
The back is engraved with a string of numbers and eight characters.
—It is comparable to mountains and seas, and lives up to the expectations of China.
"This number is a one-way communication channel," the female officer said at the time. "It can only be used once in a lifetime. Dial it, and it means you've encountered a situation that requires our intervention."
Six years have passed. During that time, his wife was hospitalized, his son was in a car accident, and the police station encountered armed resistance twice, but he couldn't bear to use it.
Captain Chen glanced at Lu Yan.
The call was made.
beep - beep - beep -
After three long tones, an electronic synthesized sound rang out.
"Please show the password."
Captain Chen held his phone, his voice low: "As worthy of mountains and seas, worthy of the Chinese nation."
The electronic sound disappeared. A faint hissing sound of electrical switching could be heard in the circuit, as if it had passed through some kind of encrypted relay.
Two seconds later, a woman's voice came through.
"Old Chen?"
The voice was crisp and clear, tinged with obvious surprise.
Captain Chen gripped his phone tightly: "Captain Xiao—"
"It's me." The person on the other end of the phone interrupted him, speaking quickly, "Old Chen, what's the situation? How many people do you need to send? Tell me the location first, and I'll mobilize them within three minutes."
Xiao Qianyu.
The captain of the first active squad of the Zhenguo Dragon Guard, a level 50 powerhouse, codenamed "Crimson Dancer".
She wielded a long spear from E-level to S-level secret realms, her spear technique was extremely sharp, and it was rumored in the industry that her posture when fighting secret realm BOSSes was like dancing—provided you ignored the blood spurting from the BOSS.
She knew all too well the significance of that number.
Old Chen hadn't dialed the number in six years. She even thought she'd never receive such a call in her life. Unless something truly terrible was about to happen, this stubborn old man wouldn't have used that line.
"This is not my business." Captain Chen lowered his voice, glanced at the door of the interrogation room to make sure no one was in the corridor, and said, "I have a young man here who just came of age. He walked into the police station today and immediately asked to see the Zhenguo Dragon Guard."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
"A child who has just come of age?"
"Yes. His name is Lu Yan. He just changed jobs at the secret base yesterday." Captain Chen paused for a moment. "Captain Xiao, I've been a criminal investigator for over twenty years, so I'm pretty good at judging people. This kid is strange—not the kind of strangeness that comes from a chuunibyou teenager acting stupidly. He speaks too maturely, releasing information layer by layer, like he's negotiating a deal with you."
"What did he say?"
"He said he had something very important to the country. He wouldn't tell me the specifics, insisting on telling you in person."
There was another three seconds of silence on the line.
When Xiao Qianyu's voice rang out again, her tone remained the same, but the direction of her question had changed: "Have you checked his job change records?"
"I had Old Li go and get it." Captain Chen flipped through the printed paper on the table. "Aura Master, Support Type, E-rank."
"E-tier support?"
"right."
Another brief silence followed.
A high school graduate with an E-level auxiliary profession walks into a local police station, requesting a meeting with China's top-secret military unit.
In any normal judgment framework, this should be directly classified as "abnormal mental state" or "prank".
But Old Chen used up that badge.
This fact itself is the greatest endorsement.
"Old Chen, take him to your bureau's secure conference room. Don't let anyone touch him, don't take any statements, and don't record anything." Xiao Qianyu's instructions were crisp and efficient. "I'll be there in forty minutes."
The phone hangs up.
Captain Chen put away his phone and pushed open the door to the interrogation room.
Lu Yan remained seated in the same place, his posture unchanged.
"Come with me. Let's wait somewhere else."
Lu Yan stood up: "You saw them?"
Captain Chen didn't answer the question. He only said, "Young man, I hope what you have is worth the money I spent on that phone call."
Lu Yan followed him upstairs without saying a word.
He certainly didn't know what kind of call Captain Chen made or what kind of leverage he used.
"Let's take it one step at a time," he thought to himself, but he calmed down.
"Trust in the country!"