Chapter 041: The Legendary Temp Worker

Jiangcheng, the capital of Chu Prefecture, was divided into sixteen districts. The "Jiangcheng Overlimit Management Office" was responsible only for seven densely populated districts within the third ring. The six suburban areas outside the third ring and three extra-plan development zones were assigned to registered teams under its command for management.

The Firebird Squad, a registered team under the "Jiangcheng Overlimit Management Office," was ranked at the lowest F-level. Naturally, it couldn't be assigned any desirable territory. It was pushed by stronger, higher-level teams straight into the 15th extra-plan development zone, where it had to compete with two other F-level teams for turf. Several of its more capable trainee squads were also sent there.

This left the Firebird Squad's "headquarters" at the Jialuo Mountain base as little more than a symbolic "liaison office," rather than an actual team station. As for the newly formed Seventh Squad—barely three months old and still short of the standard ten-member configuration—they were simply left to fend for themselves by the Firebird Squad.

Bai Yuxi wiped his brow; though he'd guessed from Luo Fei's descriptions that the Seventh Squad was a rookie team, he hadn't expected their situation to be so dire.

"So, the official LDH Overlimit Teams are a bit like regular 'SWAT units'?" he mused. "And the registered teams under LDH are like the area's 'municipal patrol'?" "What about us, the trainee squads?"

Seeing the somewhat embarrassed expressions on Luo Fei and the others, Bai Yuxi deliberately changed the subject: "Are we considered 'auxiliary police' then?"

"It's my honor to inform you!" The group exchanged glances. Drumstick's lips twitched as he forced a laugh: "We're the legendary... temps on the municipal patrol's joint defense team!"

"Actually, being 'temps' isn't so bad—at least nobody supervises us!" Luo Fei laughed at herself, pushed open a door, and stepped inside first.

Before entering, Bai Yuxi instinctively glanced up at the sign above the door—and broke into a sweat... Storage room!

Fortunately, reality wasn't quite so theatrical: there was no ultra-awkward scene of mysterious organization members meeting in secret surrounded by mops, brooms, and buckets.

As Luo Fei pressed the light switch inside the storage room, the illumination flickered on—and the floor beneath them sank slightly.

The entire room began to descend underground, matching Bai Yuxi's vision of high-tech settings for supernatural, clandestine organizations. The elevator disguised as a storage room dropped about several dozen meters before stopping. A wall-sized tempered glass sensor door slid open automatically, revealing a white-hued underground hall.

It was an underground base with a touch of sci-fi. The hall, hundreds of square meters wide, was devoid of any supporting columns. In a spacious five-meter-high area, clusters of sofas, large computer arrays, unnamed devices, and all sorts of strange apparatuses were scattered about.

All around, corridors led to other underground sections, and open rooms were separated by glass curtain walls. Judging by eye, the Firebird Squad's underground headquarters covered no less than three thousand square meters.

Facilities for gym, recreation, lounge, communal bath, and even a kitchen were all present, causing Bai Yuxi to marvel.

"Because our Firebird Squad's clearance level isn't high, our assigned station isn't that large—just four floors, including the aboveground building," Luo Fei explained as she walked with Bai Yuxi, introducing the headquarters' layout. "The surface building is just a disguise and left unused. Of course, if you want, you could set up a recreation room or something."

"Our squad is up there—we disguised a room as a cosplay club activity space."

"The first basement level is the hall for gatherings and meetings."

"The second basement level has exclusive rooms for each trainee squad—it's where our team rests."

"The third level houses the resource warehouse, biological lab, infirmary, training ground..."

"Of course, it's all empty now. The more advanced equipment has been moved to Firebird's station in Zone 15. This is just an empty shell." Luo Fei shrugged. "But the basic facilities are still quite complete. For our Seventh Squad—seven people... ah, with you now, eight—this much space is more than enough!"

Bai Yuxi gave a dry laugh. The Seventh Squad members seemed unconcerned, clearly used to this free-range arrangement.

"Jason's injured, so he's resting in the infirmary on the third floor. Our logistics staff, Su Xiaoke, is probably there as well," Luo Fei said, leading Bai Yuxi—who looked around like a curious child—downstairs.

The third basement level had the same area as the others, but unlike the open hall on the first level, the second and third were partitioned into sections of varying sizes.

In a room set up like a hospital, Bai Yuxi met two other Seventh Squad members.

One was the foreign youth Jason, whom Bai Yuxi had seen earlier in the residential alley. Now, Jason was wrapped up like a human-sized rice dumpling, unconscious on the medical bed.

The other was a striking girl in a white lab coat, black-rimmed glasses, and a ponytail, with a cool, aloof aura—Su Xiaoke, the Seventh Squad's logistics officer.

Upon seeing Bai Yuxi, Su Xiaoke merely nodded slightly in greeting, busy tending to the minor injuries of various squad members.

"She's very nice, just a bit introverted," Luo Fei explained with a smile, seeing Bai Yuxi's awkwardness. Turning to Su Xiaoke, she said, "Xiaoke, when you're done, could you run a physical check for our new member?"

Su Xiaoke continued bandaging Maya, glanced at Bai Yuxi, and nodded gently.

Bai Yuxi regarded her: the girl was astonishingly beautiful, slender and graceful. Her figure made the white lab coat appear subtly alluring.

"Pretty, isn't she?"

"She’s the ice goddess of our Academy’s Biology Department!"

"And she’s a legendary super scholar... no, super genius!"

"I think she knows everything. Xiao Bai, do you want to court her? I know her microblog, WeChat, QQ, and phone number!"

The black foreigner, Willy, sidled up to Bai Yuxi, nudged him with his elbow, and whispered, winking, "Want me to set you up with her?"