Chapter 657: Investigation

Xu Wuyi closed the door, walked over to the round table, and sat in the empty chair right in the middle.

"My name is Meng Zhishou," he said. "From today on, I am your captain."

A brief silence followed.

Zhou Bin was the first to speak. "Zhou Bin, vice-captain. Welcome, Captain Meng."

His tone was flat, showing neither excessive enthusiasm nor obvious resistance. It was the style of a soldier: composed and professional, choosing to observe before making a judgment.

Fang Xiaoxiao didn’t say a word. She merely nodded, her gaze sweeping over Xu Wuyi as if evaluating him.

Sun Jing set down his teacup and smiled. "Sun Jing. Captain Meng, you look quite young. May I ask where you were stationed previously?"

Even though he couldn’t see his face, Sun Jing could tell from his physique and demeanor that Xu Wuyi wasn’t very old. It was a blunt question, perhaps even a bit offensive. In a place like the Inspection Department, it was rare for anyone to pry into another’s background.

Xu Wuyi looked at Sun Jing and calmly replied, "The military. Special Operations."

It wasn’t a lie. Representing the Federation in his previous battles technically placed him under the temporary jurisdiction of military special ops.

Sun Jing nodded and didn’t press the matter further.

Li Zhaowen pushed up his glasses and said, "Li Zhaowen, in charge of intelligence and reconnaissance. Captain Meng, since you’re new here, feel free to ask me if there’s anything you need to know."

Chen Yunxuan finally spoke, her voice somewhat soft. "Chen Yunxuan... Hello, Captain Meng."

Xu Wuyi nodded in acknowledgment. He stood up and walked over to the desk against the wall. It was completely empty, save for a brand-new personal terminal and a stack of blank documents.

This was his station.

Sitting down, he powered on the terminal and began browsing the Inspection Department’s internal system. Zhou Bin and the others exchanged glances but didn’t say anything more. They returned to their respective seats and resumed whatever they had been doing.

Over the next few days, Xu Wuyi arrived and left on time every single day. He spent most of his time sitting at his desk, staring intently at his terminal screen. He didn’t initiate any conversations with his team members, assign any tasks, or even ask about the squad’s current work progress.

He just kept reading.

He read files, data, intelligence reports, and case records.

The access levels within the Inspection Department’s internal system were strictly divided. Ordinary team members could only view information relevant to their own missions. However, Xu Wuyi possessed the highest clearance in the entire field operations group—Sub-Supreme Level. It was second only to the Minister of Inspection and the three Vice Ministers, putting him on par with the Chief Director of Field Operations.

This was a special clearance granted by headquarters upon his joining the department. It meant he could access nearly all non-top-secret files.

He spent three whole days reviewing the files of every single mission executed by the Fourth Squad since its inception. The records were meticulously detailed, documenting the background, target, process, and outcome of each operation, as well as any casualties and injuries sustained.

The Fourth Squad was indeed the youngest team. Its members had been put together for only a short time, and their mission completion rate was low. But after reading through the archives, Xu Wuyi realized that the problem didn’t lie in the team’s capabilities, but rather in the extreme difficulty of their assignments.

Most of the tasks taken on by the other squads involved investigating small-to-medium families, corporations, or local officials. In contrast, the Fourth Squad’s missions were almost entirely tough nuts to crack—targets with complex backgrounds, massive influence, and deeply entrenched networks.

The previous captain’s death had occurred during an investigation into a major financial conglomerate. Their intel had been leaked, leading them straight into an ambush. The captain had stayed behind alone to cover the rest of the team’s retreat, only to be besieged and killed.

Among those files was a mission report written by Zhou Bin. The very last line read: "The captain sacrificed himself to cover our escape. We will never forget this blood debt."

Xu Wuyi sat in silence for a long time after reading that report.

On the fifth day, he began researching a completely different subject.

The Zhao family of Xingjing.

While the Zhao family wasn’t the absolute pinnacle of power in Xingjing, they were undoubtedly a top-tier household. Besides, Xu Wuyi had personally interacted with Zhao Cizhou. He was deeply curious about whether the Zhao family was involved in any illegal activities and how the Inspection Department evaluated them.

Xu Wuyi pulled up all the data on the Zhao family and flipped through it page by page. Tax records, industrial distribution, personnel structures, foreign investments, historical cases... He spent an entire day reading through everything.

The results took him by surprise.

The Zhao family’s background was incredibly clean.

Their tax records were crystal clear, with every major expense fully documented and traceable. Their businesses were scattered all across the Federation, yet all operated legitimately without a single record of violation. Their personnel structure was just as transparent. The core members were all Martial Artists, yet everyone possessed legitimate sources of income, with zero evidence linking them to illegal activities.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were completely flawless. When an enterprise grew this massive, a few bad apples were bound to slip into the mix. However, the individuals and incidents uncovered by the Inspection Department mostly only implicated the culprits themselves, bearing little connection to the Zhao family as a whole.

It wasn’t that the Zhao family had meticulously scrubbed their ties; rather, the interests involved with these individuals were so minuscule that even the Inspection Department found it hard to believe the prestigious Zhao family would break the law for such petty profits.

Xu Wuyi then pulled up the files for the Qiao family and the Dongjiang Battle Group.

The result was exactly the same.

Clean.

Extremely clean.

Leaning back in his chair, Xu Wuyi fell deep into thought. He remembered what Lin Jianyi had told him the other day.

"Absolute order requires absolute power."

Now, he finally understood the underlying meaning behind those words.

For these behemoth organizations with a Grandmaster holding down the fort, there was absolutely no need to rely on illegal means to gain profit. Lawful avenues were more than enough to amass an ocean of wealth.

A Grandmaster was, in and of themselves, the greatest resource.

The Federation’s annual resource quota for a single Grandmaster was an astronomical figure. Coupled with the varied revenues brought in by their disciples, followers, and affiliated factions, the wealth generated through legitimate channels was already inexhaustible. Under such circumstances, why would they ever risk engaging in illicit activities?

If they were ever exposed, they wouldn’t just lose their fortune; they would lose their reputation, their status, and the face of the Grandmaster. And a Grandmaster’s dignity was more important than anything else.

Thus, these true titans of society actually became the most law-abiding of them all.

Because they already stood at the very apex of the rules. The system itself was designed to serve them. If the day ever came when they were forced to break the rules, they could simply modify the rules to suit their needs.

Xu Wuyi continued his investigation. He began looking into families without a Grandmaster’s backing, as well as civilian conglomerates and local factions.

And with that, the problems finally surfaced.

Several mid-sized conglomerates based right here in Xingjing had numerous discrepancies in their tax records. The ratio of their income to expenditure was glaringly disproportionate, and their cash flows were incredibly murky, with many massive transactions directed toward shell corporations.