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

A black bulletproof SUV drove over the last speed bump on the road.

The vehicle lurched slightly. The wide, sturdy off-road tires kicked up a few withered yellow leaves as it steadily drove onto the smooth asphalt road.

Lu Jingyan returned to the command center by car, looking out the window at the bustling streets, children carrying schoolbags home, and couples strolling hand in hand.

The car drove towards the city center. It wasn't going fast, blending into the congested rush hour traffic.

Lu Jingyan leaned back in the spacious leather back seat.

Cool air seeped out from inside the seat through the fine ventilation holes. It clung to my back through the thin fabric of my police uniform, dispelling the stuffy heat I had picked up at the construction site.

He raised his hand and pressed the window control button.

The window was lowered halfway. The early autumn evening breeze immediately rushed into the carriage through the gap.

The wind carried the sweet, caramelized smell of roasted sweet potatoes from the street vendors, mixed with the strong diesel fumes from the exhaust pipe of the bus ahead.

It has a pungent and rough taste.

Lu Jingyan didn't raise the window. He turned his head, his deep black eyes looking through the glass at the slowly moving street scene outside.

I passed by the entrance of a primary school.

The sidewalk was crowded with children who had just been released from school. Their colorful schoolbags swayed back and forth in the crowd.

Two little girls with pigtails were sharing a packet of instant noodles, their heads close together. The noodles were crunching in their mouths.

It's next to the bus stop not far away.

A young couple wearing matching white hoodies are holding milk tea with ice in their hands.

The boy lowered his head and leaned in, biting the straw the girl offered him. This made the girl laugh and playfully punch his shoulder.

These are all just ordinary scenes from everyday life.

There were no interstellar warships hovering overhead blocking the sun, nor were there mutants in bodysuits flying around and smashing buildings.

Zhao Tiezhu placed his hands on the steering wheel.

I inching forward, following the flow of traffic. I switched between the brake and accelerator pedals, and the engine made a low whirring sound.

"Oh dear, the Second Ring Road is so congested."

He rubbed his bald head with his rough fingers. His scalp made a rustling sound as it rubbed.

"Chief, there seems to be a minor collision ahead. A food delivery electric scooter bumped into a white sedan."

Lu Jingyan looked ahead in the direction Zhao Tiezhu pointed.

At the traffic light intersection a few dozen meters away, a white car was stopped in the straight lane, its left front bumper dented.

A scooter full of takeout boxes was lying on its side.

Ten years ago, in an era when higher-dimensional forces were rampant.

If someone with a short temper and superpowers were to encounter such a traffic accident, they could lift that white car up and smash it into the green belt right there on the street.

It can overturn the asphalt of an entire street.

Now?

The driver of the white car was a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. The delivery guy was wearing a yellow vest, and his trousers were a little muddy.

The two did not use any supernatural power, nor did they even raise their voices.

They were squatting by the curb, each with a cigarette in hand, taking photos of the accident scene with their phones, and discussing which insurance company's claim channel to use.

Traffic police arrived on their police motorcycles.

After parking the car, he pulled out his walkie-talkie and shouted a few words. Then, he skillfully drew several white circles on the ground with chalk.

He moved swiftly and spoke in a calm tone.

"Look at this."

Zhao Tiezhu grinned. His white teeth flashed in the rearview mirror.

"If this were before, and that delivery guy had fire-based superpowers, that white car would be burned to a black metal frame by now. Now it's so much better, he can just hand him a cigarette and get the job done."

He sniffed.

"After our special investigation team distributed those electromagnetic nets and lie detectors, we couldn't even find a gang fight on the streets. Everyone was busy making money to pay off their mortgages."

Lu Jingyan looked away.

He reached out and picked up the old thermos cup that was on his lap. With a twist of his wrist, he unscrewed the metal lid.

The warm water slid down my throat, easing the fatigue of the day.

An unprecedented tranquility welled up within the man.

This feeling of peace and tranquility was even more profound than when he watched the alien fleet raise white flags and surrender in the vast universe.

There is no interference from higher-dimensional forces, and no world-destroying crisis.

No more need to strain your nerves every day calculating the interception trajectory of antimatter cannons. Nor do you need to peruse those thick, brick-like interstellar treaties.

Here, there is only the mundane necessities of life, only mortgage payments and car loans, only everyday family matters.

The law, like air, is invisible yet omnipresent, protecting these ordinary yet extraordinary lives.

It neither shines nor is it dazzling.

Yet it allows vegetable vendors to haggle over prices on the scales and enables female factory workers to walk alone on the streets late at night.

The green light at the intersection has turned on.

Traffic police blew loud whistles and waved their white-gloved arms to direct traffic.

The traffic began to move slowly.

Zhao Tiezhu released the brakes. The bulletproof car smoothly drove through the intersection where the collision had occurred.

Lu Jingyan placed his hand on the rubber strip of the car window.

He felt the cool breeze blowing in from outside. The wind made his short hair a little messy.

He watched the street recede further and further away in the rearview mirror.

He understood that his journey—from stripping away superpowers to suppressing aliens—was all for the sake of protecting this worldly peace.

They forcibly dragged those self-righteous "gods" down from the sky.

Put those outlaws with lightsabers and Infinity Gauntlets into prison cells one by one and make them work on sewing machines.

Let a spoiled rich kid like Gu Shao guard a convenience store and put on a smiling face, and let a demon like Long Wang work on a construction site carrying bricks and sweating.

Shatter those lofty privileges completely, grind them into dust, and knead them into this land brimming with life.

That's the whole meaning behind Lu Jingyan wearing this police uniform.

The bulletproof SUV turned at an intersection and drove onto a tree-lined avenue.

The fallen leaves were swept up by the traffic and then gently drifted back down onto the non-motorized vehicle lane.

Soothing music was playing on the car radio.

The female host's voice was gentle as she announced tomorrow's weather forecast.

Just as Lu Jingyan was deep in thought, his personal cell phone suddenly rang.

This sound was completely different from the sharp, encrypted alert tone of the command center. It was an old, somewhat dated system default ringtone.

The sound suddenly rang out in the quiet carriage.

Lu Jingyan's eyelids twitched.

He put the thermos back in the car's cup holder. He reached into the pocket of his slightly faded police trousers.

He pulled out his old phone, the one with a slightly cracked screen. He swiped his finger across the screen.

The metal casing rests close to the ear, slightly warm from the running battery.

"Hello, Mom. I'm on my way."

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he just got started.

On the other end of the phone came his mother's voice, trembling with tears yet brimming with joy: "You rascal, hurry home! Your older brother is finally getting married!"