Chapter 11: Law-Abiding Citizen?
The crowd in the waiting room was gradually being evacuated, as Su Xiao faced off against the burly man.
“‘Unstable Factor Management Bureau’? Never heard of it.”
Su Xiao sensed no battle intent from these people. If they had come to surround and kill him, he would have detected it.
“Ahem, the name is a bit long. We usually call ourselves Scavengers. To be straightforward, my name is Wei Dong. I’m mainly responsible for negotiating or fighting with people like us.”
Wei Dong directly presented his credentials. After seeing them, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. If the documents were genuine, then this person was from the government.
Scanning the surroundings, the men in suits were evacuating the crowd without causing a commotion. The station staff hadn’t intervened, and the police were completely still. This strongly suggested the other party was indeed from the government.
Su Xiao had ‘returned from the dead,’ making it easy to determine his identity as a Contractor.
Moreover, with so many people in Reincarnation Paradise, the government couldn’t possibly be unaware.
Given the existence of Reincarnation Paradise, the fact that the Real World remained so calm indicated there was more to the story. Seeing these people, Su Xiao understood—they were likely Contractors recruited by the government.
He didn’t know the specifics of how it worked, but he had two choices before him: fight or talk.
If he fought, he would be wanted nationwide and would have to flee abroad again.
“State your purpose.”
A smile appeared on Wei Dong’s face. As long as they could talk, that was fine.
“It’s like this. Initially, the government rejected people like us. But after various incidents and multiple rounds of mediation, the ‘Unstable Factor Management Bureau’ was established.
It’s clearly unwise to fight to the death with people like us, who are trained specifically for combat. Plus, we can blend in among ordinary people, making us very hard to find.
Take a look at this document. If you sign it, your past actions are wiped clean. As long as you don’t do anything abnormal in the future, no one will interfere with your normal life. Otherwise, we Scavengers will pursue you relentlessly.”
With that, Wei Dong tossed over a stack of documents. Su Xiao reviewed them. The contents were within acceptable limits.
The gist was: no killing, no causing social unrest, no illegal fundraising (excluding normal profit-making methods), and no forming gangs.
These rules posed no restriction on Su Xiao. In the Real World, he was the type who wouldn’t bother others unless they bothered him. Though powerful, he wasn’t crazy enough to go around killing people on the streets with a blade.
Su Xiao still needed revenge, but his current strength wasn’t enough. Besides, the leads on his enemies weren’t in this country. The one he had killed earlier was the last enemy he could find.
He would sign the document first and deal with the rest later. This wasn’t a contract from Reincarnation Paradise.
“Give me a pen.”
Wei Dong’s face lit up with joy. He tossed a fountain pen to Su Xiao. After signing, Su Xiao threw the document back.
“Mr. Su, are you interested in joining us?”
“No interest.”
Wei Dong had expected this answer and didn’t seem disappointed.
“Well, Mr. Su, if I’m not mistaken, you’re very strong. We locals generally don’t cause trouble in our own country, but some foreigners occasionally come to act recklessly, and some are quite powerful. I wonder if, when the time comes, you could… Of course, we’d offer compensation, like providing classified intelligence.”
Hearing Wei Dong’s words, Su Xiao’s eyes lit up.
“We’ll see when the time comes. I’ll consider it based on the situation.”
With the help of the state apparatus, obtaining certain intelligence would be much easier. At most, he’d have to help kill a few foreigners, and whether he’d help was something to consider later.
As for joining the Scavengers, that was impossible. Su Xiao didn’t want to be bossed around. Cooperation was fine, but joining was out of the question.
“Alright then, I won’t disturb you any longer, Mr. Su Xiao. By the way, your original identity is now legal. You’re a lawful resident now.”
The men in suits gradually dispersed, and the waiting room soon became bustling again. Seeing this, Su Xiao nodded. These were indeed government people. After a moment’s hesitation, he took out his phone and called the person who had made his documents.
“Arrived so soon?”
“No, something came up. The documents are no longer needed.”
“Then maybe we’ll cooperate another time. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
There was none of the cliché drama from movies. The other party was very polite. In fact, people in the ‘underground world’ were all very cautious and generally didn’t actively provoke conflicts.
Picking up the blade bag from the ground, Su Xiao stored Tang Hong back into his inventory and continued waiting for the train in the waiting room. He hadn’t canceled his ticket.
If Wei Dong wasn’t lying, he was now a free man. He could go anywhere in this country without having to skulk around in a rented room. Moreover, he needed to appear harmless now to facilitate his future actions.
“I heard the snacks there are good. Let’s go try them.”
Soon, Su Xiao boarded the high-speed train. The journey went smoothly. In truth, he hadn’t done much wrong in the Real World—he had only killed one enemy.
Although he had infiltrated the police station, he hadn’t killed any police officers, and his goal was simply to retrieve what belonged to him.
Given his hermit-like behavior in the rented room, the government had assessed his danger level as very low.
Compared to those Contractors who, upon gaining power, ran rampant in the Real World, Su Xiao was practically a law-abiding citizen.
That was why the scene in the waiting room had occurred. Instead of fighting Contractors to the death, the government chose a softer approach.
Given the current stability of society, the government’s choice was correct. However, Su Xiao had a feeling that the reason Contractors could live so comfortably was likely because someone had fought and killed to make it so.
...
Two days later.
In front of a magnificent ancient building.
The building had five floors, and at the top hung a plaque with the bold, flowing characters: ‘Qi Tun Yun Meng’ (Swallowing Clouds and Dreams).
Su Xiao was wearing sunglasses and holding several skewers of snacks, eating as he walked.
With a single-shoulder bag, Su Xiao showed no sign of the blood-soaked demon he could be. He hadn’t relaxed like this in a long time.
He was in a tourist attraction. The scenery was stunning—sunny skies, picturesque landscapes—but there were too many people.
Looking around, it was a sea of people. Su Xiao didn’t want to get near the crowded masses.
“Young man, want to buy a power bank?”
A enthusiastic auntie approached him. Su Xiao adjusted his sunglasses, but as the auntie tried to get closer, she found Su Xiao walking further and further away.
Arriving at a shady, less crowded spot, Su Xiao decided he wouldn’t visit tourist attractions again. There were too many people.
His plan was to travel around the country, sampling local cuisines. This was a good way to relax his mind.
Su Xiao felt that after relaxing, his blade technique had actually improved slightly. People really couldn’t keep their nerves taut all the time.
That evening, Su Xiao checked into a hotel. He deliberately used his original identity. In the hotel room, he maintained a slight level of alertness.
...
In a server room filled with monitors, Wei Dong walked in.
“How is it? Any anomalies from that guy?”
A staff member took off their headphones.
“He went sightseeing. Based on past records, he’s the harmless type. Not one of those idiots who get power and start causing trouble everywhere.”
Wei Dong nodded.
“Then stop the surveillance. If he finds out, it could sour things. This guy is strong.
We got lucky this time. The aura when he drew his blade startled me. If we had fought two days ago, we might have needed the military.”
The surveillance feed of Su Xiao was switched off. He was temporarily classified as harmless.
If Wei Dong knew how ferocious Su Xiao was in the derivative worlds, he would have ordered round-the-clock surveillance.
There was also something Wei Dong didn’t know: Su Xiao’s keen perception had already detected that he was being watched.