Extraterrestrial demons invaded; I laid the groundwork eight years in advance.

Zhou Zheng slowed his pace.

The staff member, holding a document, said: "Your actions of hunting monsters and trading them privately are illegal. However, given that you had no malicious intent, the circumstances were relatively minor, and you showed remorse, in accordance with the 'Temporary Management Measures for Extraordinary Materials,' all your illegal gains will be confiscated, and you will be given a reprimand."

The young man kept his head down and didn't say anything.

"Hunting monsters is not illegal in itself, but monster corpses carry demonic energy, and buying and selling them privately will cause public harm."

"The official announcement will be released later, and the Bureau and Dawn Group will also set up a unified recycling channel. Remember to use the official channels when you hunt monsters in the future."

"I understand..." the young man said in a muffled voice. "Thank you. When can I leave? My mother is alone at home, and I need to go back to take care of her."

"Just sign here and you can go." The staff member handed over the documents.

The young man bowed his head and signed the document. The staff member took the document, glanced at it, and said, "Alright, you can go now."

The young man bowed slightly to the staff member, turned and walked towards the elevator, brushing past Zhou Zheng.

Zhou Zheng's gaze naturally shifted downwards—the young man's hands were rough, with calluses on his palms and the base of his thumb, and he was wearing a pair of liberation shoes.

He withdrew his gaze, did not stop, and continued walking deeper into the corridor.

The door to the office was ajar. He knocked twice, and someone inside answered, "Come in."

He pushed open the door and went in. A young man in his twenties was sitting in front of a computer, with a stack of documents piled up in front of him. He looked up, saw Zhou Zheng, put down his pen, and stood up: "Brother Zhou? What brings you here?"

"Come here to sign this." Zhou Zheng smiled and handed over the form. "Archiving confirmation form, from yesterday's batch."

"Why bother you to make this trip? I can just sign it next time I submit the file." The young man took the confirmation slip.

"It's good to stretch my legs after sitting for so long," Zhou Zheng replied with a smile, his tone relaxed. "I saw the people you arrested last night outside. Why are they being released today?"

"Well, they were just minor figures in a few monster material smuggling cases. Their offenses weren't serious, so they were released after a little education." The young man signed the papers and handed them back. "The main issue is with the smuggling ring; they caught a big fish."

"A monster smuggling case?" Zhou Zheng took the order, his tone casual as if chatting. "This seems to be the first case of its kind in the country, right?"

  

"Yes." The young man twirled his pen. "The boss was quite cooperative, answering all the questions. The interrogation was finished last night, but there are a few discrepancies between the statements and the clues, so we still need to verify them."

"It doesn't match?" Zhou Zheng frowned slightly. "That's quite troublesome."

"Take your time."

Zhou Zheng nodded, glanced at the confirmation slip, and said, "Then you go ahead with your work, I'll head back now."

"Okay, take care, Brother Zhou."

Zhou Zheng walked out of the office, holding the confirmation slip in his hand, and slowly crossed the corridor.

Sunlight streamed in through the elevator window, making the creases on the confirmation slip exceptionally clear.

At noon, Zhou Zheng, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Zhao went to the canteen in the annex building to get their lunch.

The window seats were full, so they walked around with their trays and found an empty seat at the long table in the middle.

"The braised pork tastes pretty good today," Xiao Liu said, praising the cafeteria lady's cooking skills as she ate.

"Sigh~ I want to eat it too. I've been exercising for years, but I haven't gained any weight, nor have I lost any." Xiao Zhao picked up a piece of winter melon, turning his sorrow into his appetite.

Zhou Zheng smiled as he listened to their conversation, picked up a piece of pork rib and put it in his mouth, then lowered his head to eat.

Halfway through the meal, several people from the Operations Department walked over, carrying their trays, and sat down at the table next to them. They ate and chatted, their voices neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough to be heard.

"...That Zhao Desheng is indeed very cooperative; he basically answers every question."

"Isn't that great? It saves so much trouble."

"At first I thought so too, but then I found that the accounts of his trading company didn't match up, and it seemed to involve a foreign shipping company."

Zhou Zheng paused for a moment, then picked up the stainless steel bowl and took a sip of soup.

"...However, we're not handling that case anymore. Apparently, they've formed a special task force in collaboration with Dawn."

"Dawn? Aren't they only concerned with the front lines?"

"I heard that they were the ones who first provided the clues to the monster smuggling case, and they were also the ones who discovered the problems with Zhao Desheng's accounts."

Zhou Zheng scooped the rice grains from the bottom of the bowl into his mouth, took a sip of soup, and waited for Xiao Liu and the other person to finish eating.

The afternoon passed quickly.

At 5:30, Zhou Zheng finished processing the last few filing documents, filled out tomorrow's forms in advance, and started tidying up his desk.

Section Chief Sun came out of his office carrying his briefcase and said to him, "Xiao Zhou, you've had a hard day. Go home early."

"Okay, Section Chief Sun, see you tomorrow." Zhou Zheng replied with his usual smile, then shut down his computer and put on his coat.

As he walked out of the office building, the setting sun hung in the distant sky, its warm rays carrying a lingering warmth, poised to fall.

He pushed the electric vehicle out of the shed, inserted the key to start it, the dashboard lit up, and the electric vehicle passed through the side gate of the management bureau compound and turned onto Tangxi Road.

The evening rush hour had begun, and brake lights flashed on and off behind one car after another, forming a broken red line.

He rode at a leisurely pace through the traffic, turned into a narrow alley at the intersection, bypassed a section of road under construction, and merged into another street.

In the distance, a corner of the market sign is visible.

He parked his car at the entrance, picked up a cloth bag and went inside. He picked out some vegetables and pork belly from several stalls, and also bought a crucian carp.

While waiting for the vendor to weigh the fish, he took out his phone, tapped the game icon, and the screen changed as familiar blocks fell from the top of the screen.

He swiped his finger across the screen a few times, adjusting the shape and position of the squares, filling in the gaps and eliminating several lines.

The stall owner bagged the fish and handed it to me. "Alright, uncle, that's twenty-three yuan in total. The crucian carp is fresh today; it'll be perfect for making soup when we get home."

"Okay, thank you." Zhou Zheng took the bag, scanned the code to transfer the money, put his phone back in his pocket, and walked out of the market with the groceries.

He walked to the electric bike, put the vegetables into the basket, got on, turned the handlebars, and rode off onto the main road. The evening breeze blew into his collar, carrying a slight chill.

He stopped at the crosswalk at a traffic light intersection, with a countdown of more than thirty seconds remaining.

He looked down and zipped up his jacket, glancing unconsciously at the rearview mirror—a black sedan was parked a few car spaces behind him.

When the green light came on, he released the brakes and rode slowly forward with the flow of traffic. At the next intersection, when the yellow light was flashing, he timed his ride perfectly and followed the tail of the traffic across the intersection.

In the rearview mirror, the black sedan was blocked by the red light, its headlights shrinking into two white dots as it got further and further away.

Zhou Zheng didn't turn back and turned into an alley in the old town.