Chapter 131: The Speech

"That concludes my review of the Logistics and Preparation Department's work report. Now, let's discuss the Archives Department's work this week..."

A few hours after lunch, standing on the main podium in the conference room, Lin Yun had just finished reading this page of his manuscript and was about to turn the page when he suddenly realized something. He shifted his gaze from the script, looked down at the seats below, and let out a barely perceptible sigh.

The reaction from the audience below could only be described as lifeless.

If they were merely quiet, that would have been one thing, but the situation was clearly not that simple. It was not hard to see from the dazed stares coming from the audience that most people simply hadn't listened to a word he was saying.

The afternoon work report meeting was attended by all employees of the Bureau of Anomalies, except for those on external missions, since this was Lin Yun's first appearance before the staff. Reading books, ha.

As an organization responsible for magical-side security maintenance, the employees of the Bureau of Anomalies possessed quite good discipline; almost no one was seen slacking off during the meeting. However, even the strictest rules could not demand mental focus from employees, forcing them to maintain high levels of concentration at all times.

Lin Yun felt no surprise at this.

The speech manuscript in his hand was provided by the Comprehensive Management Department; its content was mostly a summary and suggestions regarding other departments' weekly work. In fact, even he found it boring to read aloud.

If the speaker himself has no interest in the content of the speech, let alone the audience. Some employees looked incredibly sleepy; had it not been for the new Director standing on the podium, they probably would have fallen asleep by now.

Lin Yun silently scanned the room like this, then suddenly threw the manuscript in his hand, tossing it onto the podium.

"Then, let's stop with the nonsense and talk about something slightly more practical."

He walked forward two steps with a blank expression and raised his voice slightly:

"You find it boring, you feel drowsy; in fact, I feel the same. The current situation of the Bureau of Anomalies is not optimistic. Clearly, following standard procedures here cannot solve the problems."

"There is an old saying in the Donghua State Region: 'When a new official takes office, three fires are lit.' I have no such procedures to follow here. I only propose two points: pacify the interior and repel the exterior. I will only do these two things."

"First, let's talk about pacifying the interior."

"As someone who has truly lived in Fang Ting City, I am very dissatisfied with everyone's work over the past two years. As the primary defense line against magical-side crimes in Fang Ting City, the Bureau of Anomalies has played a negligible role over these two years, practically becoming a sieve, failing completely to fulfill its intended function."

"Belated Beast attack forecasts that are never on time; gray magic organizations that cannot be eradicated no matter what; a large number of unverified missing person cases... I don't know how you feel, but put yourselves in the shoes of an ordinary city resident. In a city like this, can you live with peace of mind?"

"I am questioning you here. Surely some of you will feel wronged, feel indignant, and think I am a new official trying to intimidate you. After all, you have already expended so much manpower and material resources, so much time and effort. Several squads of the Special Operations Department have been fighting outside for consecutive days; some employees can't even sleep well. Why can't you do the job properly?"

"The reason, I imagine, some of you can already feel: there are traitors within the Bureau of Anomalies."

"Two weeks ago, the Bureau of Anomalies suffered a Belated Beast attack orchestrated by the Black Ember Dawn. Was this a coincidence? Over the past week, the search and siege operations against the gray magic organization 'Black Ember Dawn' have progressed slowly. Is this because you are slacking off, or because the other side is just too lucky?"

"No, neither. Black Ember Dawn is not that lucky, nor are they that smart. They have repeatedly gained the upper hand in their confrontation with the Bureau of Anomalies simply because there is an inside man providing information."

"You are working alongside traitors, yet you know nothing about it; the secrets of the Bureau of Anomalies appear non-existent to outsiders, yet you remain completely unaware."

"This is the first thing I intend to do: pacify the interior. Now, open your eyes, prick up your ears, and take a good look to see who the black sheep are."

"Pei Zhengchang, stand up."

Lin Yun called out calmly, staring at a middle-aged man in the crowd below: "Now, tell your colleagues, tell everyone present: in the days since the reconstruction of the Bureau of Anomalies, you have entered and exited the Archives Room four times, including this morning. What exactly were you looking for?"

In the crowd, the man whose name had been called looked up in shock, sitting in place, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

He had intended to just keep shrinking into the crowd, but suddenly realized everyone around him was looking at him. He had nowhere left to hide, so he stood up with a tense expression and stammered, "I was querying... past Belated Beast attack incidents."

"Archives of past Belated Beast incidents are all concentrated in cabinets 11 through 39. What were you doing in cabinet number 4?"

Lin Yun's expression was indifferent: "Were you trying to find Belated Beasts in the old Magical Girl liaison records?"

"I didn't do that!"

The man immediately became agitated: "This is slander!"

"Slander?"

Lin Yun's face remained expressionless: "Then, at 10:27 AM this morning, where were you? Does anyone among your colleagues know?"

Silence fell over the crowd.

"... I went to the restroom," the man said, his gaze darting away.

"Went to the restroom, did you?"

Lin Yun repeated the words he had spoken, tapped his finger once below the podium, and the large screen behind him instantly lit up. A surveillance video from a special angle appeared.

In the video was the man named Pei Zhengchang sitting below, sneaking through the Archives Room at that very moment. He made his way to the cabinet number 4 that Lin Yun had mentioned and began rummaging through it.

Seeing this video, the man below turned deathly pale.

"How is this possible..."

He muttered to himself: "I clearly checked and prepared; the surveillance in the Archives Room should have all been replaced, all of it forged. This is impossible..."

However, his actions clearly would not receive anyone's forgiveness.

If the looks directed at him from those around him had initially carried only suspicion and interrogation, then at this very moment, they were all filled with hatred and disgust.

"I am not your old Director. She might have turned a blind eye to your actions, but I will not."

Lin Yun spoke with a pointed meaning: "Security Department, send two people to escort him to the interrogation room."

As soon as the words fell, several young people immediately emerged from the crowd that had already been restless, walking towards the middle-aged man with angry expressions.

"Don't even think about it!"

The middle-aged man, now exposed, finally stopped making excuses. He let out a loud shout, suddenly raised his hand, revealing a medium he had prepared long ago, which was now flashing with magical light. He pointed his palm at the podium, his face flushed red: "You forced me to do this!"

With those words, he activated his magic, and several magic bullets instantly shot out, striking Lin Yun on the podium with a speed no less than that of firearms.

"Stop him!" "Protect the Director!"

The crowd around him cried out in alarm; some who reacted quickly instinctively wanted to rush up to the podium. But no one expected that the magic bullets released by the man had not even approached the podium before being dissolved by some unknown force.

The man's attack failed.

In a location invisible to the crowd, behind the podium, Lin Yun was holding one hand over his Heart Gem. Several fine threads of magic extended from the Heart Gem in all directions. The threads transformed into sharp blades stretching across the front of the podium, effortlessly neutralizing the man's assault.

Almost no one noticed what he had done; even the employees closest to the podium could only detect a faint fluctuation of magic.

On the other side, the man whose sneak attack had failed looked utterly defeated and was led away by the Security Department just like that.

Watching the man leave with a calm expression, Lin Yun did not intend to stop there. Scanning the audience below, he spoke again without mercy, this time pointing out another name:

"Lu Yan, can you explain why, as an employee of the Finance Department, you have been running to the Special Operations Department repeatedly over the past week? You do not seem to have been assigned any tasks involving coordination with their department, yet you have entered the operations conference room privately multiple times. What were you doing?"

He was pointing at a female employee in the front row below the podium. And this time, before the female employee could even speak, several young men from the Security Section emerged from the crowd, approaching the female employee with an imposing momentum.

The female employee named Lu Yan looked around, seeing that everyone around her wore expressions of suspicion and was pulling away from her distance. She could only click her tongue. Then, too lazy to even make an excuse, she activated the spell medium hidden in her hand.

However, unlike that man, the spell she cast was a flight spell. She rose into the air right where she stood and flew rapidly towards the conference hall doors.

"She's trying to run! Catch her!"

The surrounding staff immediately erupted into action: some grabbed ankles, others threw objects, and some deployed spells. Interference from all directions made it impossible for the woman to advance; she was merely halfway through her flight when a tall employee yanked her straight down from the air.

Then, the security department staff who had been chasing from behind swarmed forward and dragged this female employee down as well.

Lin Yun said nothing more, directly opening his mouth to point out another name. This time, there was no step of listing crimes or raising questions; the employee whose name was called turned to try to flee. Then, he too was subdued by the angry colleagues surrounding him.

Just like that, Lin Yun pointed out six people in a row. The staff below went from initial suspicion to unconditional belief, their actions becoming faster each time. These traitors from Black Dawn were thus one by one exposed and escorted to the interrogation room.

Only after all the traitors had been taken away did Lin Yun release the hand pressing the Heart Gem behind the podium and slowly speak:

"I do not know if there are other traitors within the Anomaly Bureau, given that my time here is still short and I could not possibly investigate everyone. However, I believe this is merely a matter of time."

"If such people still exist among you below, then you have only two choices: the first is to leave after work today and never return to the Anomaly Bureau; the second is to find me voluntarily, turn in your accomplices, and strive for lenient treatment."

"So, let those who brought hidden dangers exit, and let us discuss the next issue. Regarding repelling the outside, that is, the lethal power against external foes."

"The Anomaly Bureau has suffered more than one major defeat at the hands of Black Dawn. The humiliation from two weeks ago, I am sure, none of you have forgotten; I believe you also wish to find them and wipe away this shame."

"However, Black Dawn has mastered the technology of beast transformation. Their beast-transformed ones possess strength approaching that of a Remnant Beast, far beyond what ordinary people can handle."

"For this reason, I have specially brought a batch of equipment."

"Provided by headquarters, the latest research results from the Magic Kingdom—Magic Armament. Once equipped individually, a Magus of the Controller level can truly inflict damage upon a Remnant Beast."

These words caused the previously silent crowd below to immediately erupt with a chorus of doubt and exclamations.

Using a human body to confront a Remnant Beast was, in the cognition of most people, an impossible feat; and among the staff of the Anomaly Bureau, where Magi made up the vast majority, this cognition was even more akin to common sense.

Just as everyone knows that Magical Girls are only ever girls, everyone also knows that even a Magus of the Controller level is equally powerless when facing a Remnant Beast.

And now, someone actually dared to tell them so confidently that humans could rely on equipment to confront Remnant Beasts head-on?

"Although the current lethal power is still limited to the Egg Rank, rendering it powerless against higher-rank Remnant Beasts, I believe it is already sufficient to deal with ordinary beast-transformed ones."

Ignoring the commotion below, Lin Yun calmly continued his narration:

"In the coming days, I trouble the General Management Department to conduct qualification reviews for all Controllers in the Special Operations Department; those whose identities and actions show no anomalies shall be equipped with the latest Magic Armament."

"Once all combat squads have completed the equipping of Magic Armament, the Anomaly Bureau's campaign to annihilate Black Dawn will officially begin."

"Previously, due to those few traitors, the Anomaly Bureau could not even locate their beast-transformed ones; now, after some traitors have been purged, our operations should be more effective."

"I will not force any of you employees to place yourselves in danger, but I hope you will act according to your capabilities. If you encounter an enemy group that can be annihilated, then annihilate them; if you cannot fight them, contact the Bureau. Whether it is requesting reinforcements, resource allocation, or even support from Magical Girls, you may propose it all."

"I have only one requirement, and I hope you all make this goal clear."

Speaking thus, Lin Yun gradually raised his head, a cold light flashing in his eyes:

"—Sweep up every Black Dawn gang hiding in Fang Ting City, leaving not a single one. I do not wish to see these scum wreaking havoc in our city next year."

"Meeting adjourned."

The speech was a resounding success.

Just as Lin Yun himself had said, by stabilizing the interior and repelling the exterior, he exposed several traitors within the Anomaly Bureau in a single short speech, demonstrating his ability; he also provided equipment sufficient to confront Remnant Beasts, demonstrating the resources he could mobilize.

Humans always admire strength, and this is even more true in a special institution like the Anomaly Bureau. Lin Yun gave the staff at the meeting a shot of adrenaline with his actions, and naturally, their recognition of this new Director rose accordingly.

When Lin Yun announced the adjournment and left the meeting scene, the crowd below, which had been lifeless, was now much more spirited, especially the staff of the Special Operations Department. Li Yingwei of the Third Squad was excitedly grabbing Tian Sheng's shoulder and shaking him, shouting "Forever support the new Director," forming a stark contrast to his attitude during lunch.

Tian Sheng, who was being grabbed, could only helplessly smile along, while looking toward the podium not far away, his expression hiding even more doubts.

The noisy meeting scene did not affect Lin Yun, who had already left; holding his manuscript, he walked briskly into the elevator, strode back to the door of his office, and then pushed the door open with a frown.

Just now, he had felt an incredibly powerful surge of magical power suddenly appear, and its location was right within the Anomaly Bureau, even right inside the Director's office.

He pushed the door open with one hand while the other rested in his pocket, ready to activate the Heart Gem at any moment. But when he truly saw the scene inside the door, he completely forgot what he had originally intended to do.

—A plush toy, or rather a puppet, was sitting in the seat that belonged to him.

It was a fairy doll that looked quite cute, its entire body covered in emerald-green fur, wearing a white lab coat in a proper manner, adding a touch of cuteness to the absurdity. The reason it was identified as a doll and not a living creature was that very obvious movable joints were exposed on its body.

At this very moment, the doll's furry face wore a somewhat lazy smile as it lay half-reclined behind the desk, looking at him.

"Hello there, youngster."

A voice, indistinguishable as male or female, like a machine synthesis, issued from the doll's mouth.

Although it was sitting in someone else's seat, it appeared extremely at ease and comfortable. On its furry face, a pair of eyes shimmering with clear luster gazed at Lin Yun; those eyes were emerald-green and dripping with vitality, yet transparent and magnificent, possessing a mysterious kind of magic.

It was as if they were a pair of precious emeralds.

(End of this chapter)