Chapter 404: You Guessed Right

The Ironclad Department in the Capital was situated on the busiest street in the city.

Every residence on this street had vermilion gates connected in a row, and the owners of these mansions were certainly all wealthy and noble.

Occasionally, a few men dressed as Confucian scholars would cast cold, contemptuous glances at Yang Ling and his group.

Yang Ling had checked their status panels, and without exception, their classes were all Martial Artists, every single one of them with cultivation base.

"Zhao State was founded on martial might, yet even these bookish fellows are diligently cultivating martial arts, and they still look down on the Ironclad Department."

Thinking this, he had already followed Yun Buchuan and the others into the Ironclad Department.

This place was far livelier than the Ironclad Department branches below.

Ironclad agents were constantly coming and going, and clerks wearing ironclad armor were hurrying past with official documents in hand.

It was only upon spotting Yun Buchuan and the others that they would stop, offer a salute, then continue with their work.

"The Capital Ironclad Department is more than ten times larger than your local branches."

Yun Buchuan said with a faint smile. "There are over ten thousand Ninth-Rank Ironclad agents alone."

Over ten thousand Ninth-Rank Ironclad agents?

Yang Ling's eyes were filled with emotion. A Ninth-Rank Ironclad agent could already serve as a Chief Constable of a city under a prefectural capital.

Yet here in the Capital, they were probably just doing street patrol duty.

"Ninth-Rank, Eighth-Rank, even Seventh-Rank Ironclad agents must have very little authority here in the Capital."

"But those above Seventh-Rank would see their authority multiply exponentially, holding far more power than local Ironclad agents."

With that thought, Yang Ling noticed that the interior of the Ironclad Department seemed quite vast. One glance revealed numerous corridors connecting different courtyards, and he asked curiously:

"Director Yun, how many mu does the Capital Ironclad Department cover?"

"Around 400 mu."

Yun Buchuan said casually.

Yang Ling was slightly startled, and immediately drew upon the knowledge he had learned before, barely arriving at a result.

One football field was roughly ten mu, about seven thousand square meters.

400 mu was the size of forty football fields, over two hundred thousand square meters!

"This really isn't small, but if there are over ten thousand Ninth-Rank Ironclad agents alone, there must surely be plenty of ordinary constables below them."

"This Ironclad Department can probably mobilize tens of thousands of people at any moment, right?"

"With 400 mu of floor space, it's actually still a bit small. But you can see the Imperial Palace from here at a glance, less than two li away... This location is squarely at the very heart of Zhao State, so property prices must be quite high."

Meanwhile, some people inside the Ironclad Department had also reacted, casting curious and scrutinizing looks toward Yang Ling's group.

They recognized Xu Wenjun, and they also recognized Yun Buchuan and Lu Yunchen.

So naturally, they could guess the identity of Yang Ling, who wore the Sixth-Rank Ironclad armor.

"Yang Ling from the Public Security Division of the Changhe Prefectural Capital Ironclad Department, that must be him."

"He handled a major case over at Xiangfeng Prefectural Capital this time, but unfortunately, that case not only brought him no credit, it instead brought trouble down on his head."

"Director Xu was implicated as well. A dignified Director of the Third Division in the Command Division, and he got transferred to the First Division of Bandit Apprehension..."

"Keep your voice down. Xu Qingnian has been in a bad mood lately. If he hears you, you'd better watch out for a beating."

"What's there to be afraid of? Would he dare attack a colleague in broad daylight? Think I'm scared of him? Ridiculous.

I just want to know if the rumors are true. Does that Director Yang really have the ability to crack cases like a god?

Some local Ironclad agents have already secretly started calling him Yang the Divine Constable."

"Hearing is believing, seeing is confirming. But one thing I can be sure of, Director Zhao Xun, the superior of my division, is the one who promoted Yang Ling.

Director Yun of the Third Division in the Public Security Division also has a good relationship with Yang Ling. Could it be that the two superiors want to groom a junior?"

"Tsk... One is the Director of the Third Division in Public Security, and the other is the Director of the Fourth Division. To earn the favor of two Public Security Division Directors, this guy probably does have some skill, but whether he's a Divine Constable is another matter."

These whispered discussions were all carried out from a distance with lowered voices. Normally, even a Fifth-Rank Lesser Master would find it difficult to hear clearly.

Yet Yang Ling heard every word with perfect clarity.

"You've got to be joking. Doubting whether I'm a Divine Constable? The Insight Technique is the standard equipment of a Divine Constable, and it's the symbol of my ability!"

"But this place's Public Security Division has a Fourth Division as well? Director Zhao is the Director of the Fourth Division?"

About ten-plus minutes passed.

The group passed through a long corridor and arrived at a three-section courtyard.

This courtyard looked like it could serve both as an office and a residence.

Standing in the courtyard at this moment was an old acquaintance of Yang Ling.

"You've finally arrived. The Department Head is waiting inside."

Zhao Xun strode forward quickly, sweeping his gaze over Yang Ling and Lu Yunchen, and gave the two of them a meaningful look.

Lu Yunchen asked quietly: "Director Zhao, this look of yours is..."

Zhao Xun shot him a glare:

"Watch your words, the Department Head isn't in a good mood!"

"Oh, oh."

Lu Yunchen quickly nodded.

Xu Wenjun's face also showed a hint of solemnity, and Yang Ling watched him take a deep breath in person.

This showed that even Xu Wenjun, the son of a Third-Rank Grandmaster Supreme and himself an Upper Fifth-Rank master, held great reverence and fear for the Department Head.

Yun Buchuan said nothing, and together with Zhao Xun, led everyone to the back courtyard.

A middle-aged layman was inspecting a newly planted sapling, and upon hearing the footsteps of the group, he turned around to look.

Another elderly man holding a watering can poured some water on the sapling.

Xu Wenjun, Yun Buchuan, Zhao Xun, and Lu Yunchen all bowed in unison, speaking with respectful tones:

"Subordinates pay respects to the Department Head!"

Yang Ling was also bowing, and instinctively wanted to check the Department Head's status panel. But a wave of dizziness hit his head, and cold sweat immediately broke out on his back. He didn't dare to be presumptuous again.

The middle-aged layman chuckled: "You just returned to the Capital, and you've already gotten into a conflict with those rotten Confucians?"

Xu Wenjun remained silent.

Yun Buchuan wore an awkward expression.

Lu Yunchen, being a Sixth-Rank Ironclad agent, had no standing to speak at this moment either.

After one breath, Yun Buchuan finally spoke:

"Department Head, it's mainly that those Confucian scholars insisted on chasing us to the wharf to curse at us. Director Yang is young and couldn't hold back, so he had a small sparring match with them."

"A small sparring match."

The middle-aged layman's gaze landed on Yang Ling, and he smiled:

"A small sparring match that flattened the man's nose? Xie Zhihu is usually very popular among the young ladies here in the Capital.

You flattened his nose, how is he supposed to recite poetry and compose couplets now?"

Yang Ling thought for a moment and was about to speak, but the other party directly cut him off:

"I ask you, what does 'sack of shit' mean?"

Yang Ling clasped his fists and said: "Reporting to the Department Head, it means the eye that shits!"

Xu Wenjun and the others' bodies trembled, looking at Yang Ling in disbelief.

This kid had been cursing that dirty at the wharf just now!?

"And what does 'lazy sleep' mean?"

Yang Ling: "Heh heh."

The middle-aged layman was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but look at the elderly man beside him:

"Li Zhong, I guessed right, didn't I."

Li Zhong nodded: "You guessed right."

The middle-aged layman murmured softly to himself, repeating "sack of shit" and "lazy sleep" a few times, then couldn't help but give a slight nod. Afterward, he said to Yang Ling:

"Xie Zhihu has already broken through the life tribulation, and you beat him that easily. Are you still a newly promoted Sixth-Rank?"

Everyone's gazes fell on Yang Ling in unison.

Yang Ling: "This subordinate has already broken through to the Upper Sixth-Rank realm, but hasn't had time to register at the ranked level yet."

Already broken through to Upper Sixth-Rank?

Xu Wenjun was somewhat surprised. He had always believed that this kid in front of him was at most Lower Sixth-Rank, just stronger in combat ability.

After all, in Zhao State, there were indeed geniuses at Lower Sixth-Rank who could fight Upper Sixth-Rank, and such geniuses... were actually not few in number.