Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

The morning light completely illuminated the streets of Jinghai City.

At the end of Jiefang Road Pedestrian Street, a black police car, almost invisible, is quietly parked under the shade of a tree.

The car window was lowered halfway, and the early autumn breeze, carrying the aroma of breakfast stalls from the street, slowly drifted into the car.

Lu Jingyan rested one hand on the steering wheel.

His eyes, which usually held a rational and indifferent look, were now peering through the windshield at the surreal scene a hundred meters away.

In the passenger seat, Su Xiaoxiao held a cup of hot soy milk in her hands, her shoulders trembling as she tried to suppress a laugh.

"Pfft... I can't take it anymore, Captain Lu, I'm going to die laughing in the car."

Su Xiaoxiao clutched her stomach, pointed at the two figures walking side by side in front of her, and tears were about to stream down her face.

"Look at her now. Where is even a trace of the arrogance she displayed yesterday in our bureau, threatening to kill herself and demanding half the country to support you?"

At the edge of their line of sight, Princess Anna, the most noble and enchanting first in line to the Duchy of Slock, was squatting on the curb.

Her European-style court dress, originally worth millions and studded with diamonds, was now roughly pulled up to her knees and tied in an extremely unsightly knot.

The fluorescent green vest with "Jinghai Sanitation" on it looked almost too bright green in the morning light.

But this is not the point.

"Your Majesty! This thing called a pancake is simply a masterpiece of God!"

Anna chewed indistinctly, her eyes sparkling with an unprecedented sincerity.

"In my country, even a Michelin three-star chef couldn't create this...this soulful flavor!"

Wang Lei was amused by her exaggerated praise.

He handed her a tissue, his smile clean and sunny: "Eat slowly, don't choke. This is an intangible cultural heritage of Jinghai City, five yuan a set, all you can eat."

"Five yuan?"

She excitedly waved the half-eaten pancake in her hand, almost slapping it onto a pile of fallen leaves that had just been swept up next to her.

"Be careful, it's just been swept clean." Wang Lei quickly pulled her aside.

Anna wasn't angry at all. Instead, she nodded obediently, blushed, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Her submissive, even slightly shy, demeanor was completely different from the domineering underworld princess she had been yesterday.

in the carriage.

Seeing this, Su Xiaoxiao completely gave up on controlling her expression and laughed so hard she collapsed in her chair.

"Captain Lu, your 'labor reform' method is absolutely brilliant!"

Su Xiaoxiao wiped away tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes while ranting and raving.

"You've transformed a perfectly good transnational, melodramatic, royal forced marriage story into a 'Foreign Princess's Rural Diary in China' using a sanitation worker's uniform and a jianbing (Chinese crepe)!"

"Look at the way she's looking at that city management officer! Her eyes are practically drooling!"

"This plot is completely off! How did it suddenly turn into a patriotic, inspirational, and pure romance film?"

Lu Jingyan leaned back in his seat, quietly watching the harmonious scene outside the car window.

He didn't smile, but a faint, heartfelt gentleness appeared on his usually stern face.

"This proves one thing."

Lu Jingyan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his voice steady and magnetic.

"What's wrong?" Su Xiaoxiao asked curiously as she leaned closer.

"Labor is the most glorious thing."

Lu Jingyan's gaze was deep, and his tone carried a certain confidence that he had seen through the laws of the world.

"There's nothing in this world that can't be solved by sweeping two streets. If there is, then just add a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe)."

"Those so-called 'Mary Sue halo' and 'obsession with everything' are nothing more than spiritual opium built on extreme emptiness and privileged class. Once you leave that lofty illusion and throw her into the most real, down-to-earth, everyday life of firewood and rice."

He pointed to Anna, who was blushing as she helped the older woman push her tricycle.

"She will discover that, compared to those ethereal powers, the pure kindness of an ordinary person towards her, and a hot meal that can fill her stomach, are the things that can touch people's hearts the most."

"Our legal education and labor reform have universal applicability across national borders."

Su Xiaoxiao was stunned.

Looking at her captain's handsome face, which was earnestly explaining the law, she couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

"Captain Lu, if those anxious leaders in the Foreign Affairs Bureau heard what you said, they'd probably kneel down and sing 'Conquer' on the spot."

When the Foreign Affairs Bureau was mentioned, Su Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered something, picked up her tablet and flipped through it.

"By the way, Captain Lu, speaking of which, what about that diplomatic mission from the Principality of Slock? Their princess is sweeping garbage in the street, and they really have no objections? Weren't they threatening to cause a diplomatic incident yesterday?"

Lu Jingyan chuckled softly.

He took out his phone, casually flipped to an internal briefing he had received ten minutes earlier, and handed it to Su Xiaoxiao.

"Not only did they have no objections, they even sent an official letter of thanks."

"A thank-you note?"

Su Xiaoxiao took the phone, quickly glanced at it, and her eyes widened immediately.

The encrypted letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Slock contained words written in an extremely official and grateful tone:

[Thanks to the Jinghai City Public Security Bureau for providing Princess Anna with the "In-Depth Social Experience Program."]

[Her Highness, through her grassroots experience in your country, has deeply appreciated the hardship of labor and the greatness of the people, which has greatly alleviated her long-standing "mania" and "paranoia."]

[We extend our sincere gratitude and hope that your authority can extend Her Highness's "community service period" to consolidate the therapeutic effect.]

After reading the letter, Su Xiaoxiao was completely petrified.

"This...this actually works?"

"These foreigners must think the streets of Jinghai City are some kind of high-end psychological treatment center!!"

"This is called mutual benefit and win-win."

Lu Jingyan put away his phone, a calm and composed smile curving his lips.

"They got rid of a troublemaker, and we gained a free, highly skilled sanitation worker. Plus, they resolved a diplomatic crisis along the way."

"Let's go back to the station."

Lu Jingyan started the car engine, shifted gears, and released the handbrake in one smooth motion.

The black police car slowly drove away from the pedestrian street, leaving that scene, filled with the saccharine scent of youthful romance, behind.

"Going back already?" Su Xiaoxiao asked, somewhat reluctantly. "Aren't you going to keep watching the princess's romance?"

"I'm not watching anymore."

Lu Jingyan stared ahead, his long, slender fingers expertly maneuvering the steering wheel. "The special investigation team still has a mountain of files to review. Their love life is their business; catching criminals is our job."

The carriage returned to calm.

Su Xiaoxiao leaned against the passenger seat, looking at Lu Jingyan's sharply defined profile, and felt an indescribable sense of security welling up inside her.

This man is always so rational and clear-headed, like a lighthouse that will never fall.

With the "time management master" sentenced to eighty years, the underworld princess sent to a women's prison, and now this Mary Sue princess sweeping the streets.

Those bizarre protagonists from other worlds who suddenly arrived due to the "fusion of world lines" all seem to have met their deserved end under Lu Jingyan's "absolute code".

Everything is going in a good direction.

The sky over Jinghai City seems even bluer than before.

"Captain Lu, what do you want to say...?"

After finishing the last sip of soy milk, Su Xiaoxiao crushed the empty cup. "Can we finally relax a little? We've been working non-stop these past few days, and Tie Zhu's dark circles are practically down to his chin."

"Maybe."

Lu Jingyan did not give a definite answer.

In this world that is being targeted by various higher-dimensional forces, never expect lasting peace.

It was as if to confirm his premonition.

Just as the police car drove onto the ring road and was about to arrive at the municipal police station compound.

"Beep—beep beep—!!!"

A sharp, piercing, and heart-stopping red alarm suddenly exploded in the depths of Lu Jingyan's mind without warning!

This voice was unlike any previous prompt!

It carried an extremely oppressive and terrifying pressure, as if a slumbering ancient beast was tearing apart the shackles of time and space and descending upon the city!

Lu Jingyan slammed on the brakes.

"squeak--!"

The police car screeched to a halt on the emergency lane, leaving a trail of acrid white smoke.

"Captain Lu! What's wrong?!" Su Xiaoxiao was jolted forward by the inertia and looked at Lu Jingyan in horror, whose expression had suddenly changed.

Lu Jingyan remained silent.

He kept his eyes tightly shut.

On the retina, the "crime radar" map covering the entire city is undergoing an extremely horrifying transformation.

It's not a red dot.

It's not a bunch of red dots either.

Instead, it is located in the most central and prosperous financial center of Jinghai City—that is, the CBD business district.

A huge, deep red warning sign, like a blood-red sun, was displayed!

The sign's coverage area even engulfed more than a dozen surrounding skyscrapers!

[Highest alert level!]

[A massive energy field of 'illegal fundraising and financial fraud' has been detected forming!]

[Target identified: Shura Investment Group.]

[Estimated amount involved: Incalculable! This has triggered the national financial security red line!]

Lu Jingyan suddenly opened his eyes, and the eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses were terrifyingly cold.

"Shura Investment Group?"

He murmured the name, his tone filled with a chilling killing intent.

"Captain Lu, what happened?" Su Xiaoxiao's voice trembled as she looked at his horrified expression.

"Something terrible has happened."

Lu Jingyan shifted gears again and floored the accelerator, pushing the police car to its limit.

"Someone is running a Ponzi scheme right under our noses."

"Moreover, it's large enough to drain half of Jinghai City's GDP!"

Accompanied by deafening sirens, the black police car sped off like an arrow toward the blood-soaked financial center!