Chapter 15: What’s Your Problem?

They were immediately approached by Song Yidao and Fan Tiantiao, both of whom wore warm and hospitable smiles as the former greeted, "Welcome, Assistant Dean Huang, Instructor Li. I'm assuming this is Fang Che? I've heard many things about him, but it seems that even the highly embellished rumors about his handsome looks fail to do him justice!"

"I'll be leaving this student of mine in your hands from now on, Hall Master Song," Li Changkong said. "Please look after him in my stead."

"Of course. We'll be sure to nurture such a fine young talent to the best of our abilities," Song Yidao replied as he invited Li Changkong and Huang Yifan inside for a chat.

"Tiantiao, you take Administrator Fang on a tour of our Hall of Protectionists," he instructed.

"Yes, Hall Master Song."

With that, the group split into two and parted ways.

As Fan Tiantiao led Fang Che into the building, there was a rare smile on his face as he mused, "It seems like only yesterday when I first met you, yet all of a sudden, we're already colleagues!"

"I wouldn't dare to refer to myself as a colleague of yours, Deputy Hall Master Fan," Fang Che said in a respectful manner.

"This is the main entrance. For the initial phase of your tenure, you're going to have to display your identification token every day you come to work, but once you become a familiar face here, that will no longer be necessary. This is the emergency response department, responsible for dealing with emergency situations, pretty self-explanatory. This is the disciplinary hall, and this is the accolades hall...

“This is the battle hall, and directly across from it is the cafeteria. Over here is the treasury hall, where you can receive rewards for completing missions and your monthly benefits. This is the equipment hall, and the two halls on either side of it are reserved for sparring and training. These are the cultivation chambers, which can only be accessed by spending merit points. This is the pill hall. This is the..."

Fan Tiantiao was racing through the tour, rattling off a bunch of information without displaying any concern for whether Fang Che was able to keep up.

Thankfully, Fang Che had visited Halls of Protectionists like this one on many occasions during his past life, so he was somewhat familiar with the general layout.

"This is where you'll be working as a battle hall administrator. According to the regulations, an administrator should have two to five subordinates, but right now, we're a bit shortstaffed, so we could only assign you one subordinate. He's a Great Grandmaster. Come here, Little Tang."

A young man hurriedly stood up from his chair and jogged over to Fan Tiantiao before extending a respectful salute.

"Administrator Tang will be your direct superior from today onward," Fan Tiantiao said.

"Tang Zheng pays his respects to Administrator Fang," the young man greeted, displaying impeccable etiquette.

"Little Tang is from a seventh-tier clan here in our White Cloud Prefecture, and he's already been working in the Hall of Protectionists for three years, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask him. No special missions have been assigned to you at this point, so all you'll be doing is patrolling the southern area of the White Cloud Prefecture.

“There are around thirty more administrators with the same job as you, and you have full freedom to choose if you want to team up with others or work alone. Your job will be to keep an eye out for abnormal occurrences and immediately address them or report them to your superiors. This is your desk, and all of the surrounding cabinets also belong to you.

“You'll be working in the same hall as all of the other administrators, but you'll eventually get your own office as you go up the ranks. There are dormitory rooms over there. You can go rest in one of them or even go home when you don't have any official duties to attend to, but we have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to slacking off on the job, and you'll be deducted wages and merit points if caught doing so..."

After giving Fang Che an extensive explanation of his duties and obligations, Fan Tiantiao concluded, "I know it's a lot to take in at once, but you'll get used to everything over time."

He then turned to the administrator sitting at the desk behind Fang Che's as he said, "Ren Chang, you're one of our most experienced administrators, so make sure to help Administrator Fang out wherever you can."

Ren Chang was a hunch-backed old man with a head of white hair, and he immediately answered, "You can count on me, Deputy Hall Master Fan."

Shortly after Fan Tiantiao's departure, a delivery was made to Fang Che, containing things like everyday necessities, writing apparati, and standard weapons.

Tang Zheng quickly put everything where they belonged, and the efficiency and expertise with which he carried out the task clearly indicated that he had done this many times before.

"What've you been doing here for the past three years, Little Tang?" Fang Che asked.

"I was sent out to patrol the streets in my first year, but I was too incompetent, so I was sent back here to the administration hall to do some odd jobs. However, I've made some advancements in my cultivation base since then, so I should be able to get back out on patrol soon."

"How much has your cultivation base improved?"

"I was a first-rank Great Grandmaster three years ago, and I'm not a second-rank Great Grandmaster."

"That's very quick progress," Fang Che praised with a nod.

"Thank you, Administrator Fang. It was all thanks to my brother-in-law. He's the hall master of our battle hall."

"This is quite an honor for me then."

"Not at all, Administrator Fang, you're far too kind. My brother-in-law is my brother-in-law, and I am me. I am your subordinate, so feel free to use me as you see fit."

Fang Che nodded in response, then asked, "How many administrators are there in total?"

"Over two hundred spread out across two halls. Ours is the second hall, directly across from the first hall."

Tang Zheng set a booklet containing the rules of the Hall of Protectionists down onto the desk and said, "You can have a read through this when you get some spare time."

"I will. Thank you."

"How old are you, Administrator Fang? You look really young!"

"Eighteen."

"Wow, you really

are

very young. I have a younger brother your age!"

Fang Che's expression instantly darkened upon hearing this.

"Tang Zheng! Who gave you the authority to speak to me like this? You think I'm your little brother, is that it?"

Fang Che exerted some mental pressure on Tang Zheng as he spoke, and the latter instantly began sweating profusely, almost collapsing to his knees.

"I'm sorry, Administrator Fang, I won't do it again."

"Go brew me some tea! You're wasting both of our time standing around chatting with me! Is this what you get paid to do? From now on, speak when you're spoken to, and shut up the rest of the time, understood?"

"Yes, Administrator Fang!"

Tang Zheng hurriedly scurried away to brew tea, while Fang Che sat down at his desk.

Tang Zheng had immediately struck Fang Che as quite a conniving young man. As soon as Fan Tiantiao departed, he immediately brought up the fact that his brother-in-law was the battle hall master, and his intentions for doing so were very clear.

However, Fang Che knew that there were plenty of people like this in the Hall of Protectionists, so even if he got rid of Tang Zheng, someone similar would take his place.

Hence, he may as well stick with Tang Zheng and whip him into shape.

In any case, he was just a One Heart Church undercover agent in the eyes of Fan Tiantiao and the others, so his chances of rising up the ranks were very slim, and he was anticipating spending quite a bit of time working as an administrator.

However, the thought didn't dishearten him. This was the beginning of his path as a double agent, and he was fully prepared for the arduous grind to come.

The only concern on his mind at the moment was that Sun Yuan's head was still hanging from the city wall. This was a matter that had to be addressed as soon as possible.

The people responsible for Sun Yuan's death were definitely still in the White Cloud Prefecture, and given their power and experience, they should've been able to find him, so why had they still not come after him?

Right at this moment, his train of thought was disrupted by a mocking voice.

"Quite the firebrand, aren't you, Administrator Fang?"

Fang Che turned to discover a brawny man glowering at him with a disdainful expression. It was one of his fellow administrators, and he was clearly very displeased with his treatment of Tang Zheng.

"What's your problem?" Fang Che challenged.

The man slammed his desk and rose to his feet with a furious expression.

"My problem is that you have no respect! This is no way to be speaking to your senior!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?! I'm here to work, not suck up to my so-called seniors! Tang Zheng is my subordinate, so I'll treat him however I want! You don't like it? Let's take this outside!"

All of the forty to fifty administrators in the hall immediately began glowering at Fang Che in collective anger.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone this cocky on his first day!"

"What're you gonna do about it? Come put your money where your mouth is, or shut up!" Fang Che scoffed.

"Insolent little brat! Looks like I'll have to teach you some respect!"

***

A short while later, over thirty bruised, battered, and depressed administrators trudged back into the hall behind a completely unscathed Fang Che.

Tang Zheng was standing by Fang Che's desk, too scared to even look at him.

He had just beaten up over thirty administrators at once on his own!

"From now on,

I

call the shots here! Tang Zheng, I don't care if your brother-in-law is the battle hall master or even the hall master himself! Unless he transfers you away, you have to do as I say! If you screw up on the job, you better be prepared for a beating!"

Fang Che then turned to the other administrators in the hall as he yelled, "And all of you better learn to shut up and do your job from now on! If you want the right to speak, earn it with your fists! We're all administrators, what gives any of you the right to tell me what to do? If you don't like the look of me, get promoted so you can become my superior! Honestly, I don't even want to beat you guys up. It's a waste of my time and energy!"

He sat down at his desk, then ordered, "Tang Zheng, bring me all the files for the southern area that I'll be patrolling."

Tang Zheng hurriedly scurried away in an obedient manner, while all of the other administrators stared at one another in silence.

The unscathed administrators who hadn't tried to teach Fang Che a lesson were very thankful that they chose to mind their own business.

It seemed like this new administrator wasn't just a firebrand, he also possessed the prowess to back up his temper.

Administrators were low-ranking officers that were mostly all Generals, but being able to beat up so many at once without breaking a sweat was still no easy feat, especially for a rookie!