Light Barrier - Chapter 9: Adjudication

Headache.

An unknown amount of time had passed.

This thought floated into Gu Shen’s mind.

My head hurts.

Despite the silence around his ears, his mind seemed to be wrapped in a tsunami… A silent roar boiled. Gu Shen felt like a fallen leaf. He could vaguely feel his limbs lying steadily, yet he felt as though he had been thrown into a roller, and the world was spinning.

He struggled to open his eyes, and a bright light shone on his face.

“Hiss…”

Pain assaulted every part of his body, making it difficult for him to even move a finger.

“You’re awake.” A familiar cold female voice.

Gu Shen made an effort to move his head. This simple action exhausted almost all his strength.

In a spacious, white hospital room, it was very quiet, with only the slow ticking of the clock on the wall.

Nan Jin was sitting by the bed with a saber in her arms. Her trench coat was slightly open, revealing the alluring curves outlined by her black tight-fitting  clothes. In Gu Shen’s eyes, her figure appeared as four swaying and overlapping images.

Because of her distinctive appearance, even with the overlapping images, he could recognize her.

“You’ve been taking care of me…” Gu Shen smiled warmly and said sincerely, “Thank you, Big Sister Nan Jin.”

As soon as he said big sister, the scabbard in Nan Jin’s arms made a faint clicking sound.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m just following my teacher’s orders,” she replied coldly. “And the ones taking care of you are the doctors and nurses of Oto Hospital… I didn’t do anything. I’m just waiting here.”

“You’re too polite.” Gu Shen didn’t think so.

During the fire and assassination earlier, he had overdrafted his mind to use the Ruler of Truth to barely save his life… Now, it seemed that if he had stayed in the interrogation room for the night, how could he have encountered so much trouble?

Those two men who were terrifying to him were not worth mentioning in front of this woman, right?

With this expert by his side, he should be safe.

Gu Shen let out a long, satisfied breath. His emotions were very complicated. He was both afraid and glad that he had made the call in the end.

But immediately after, Gu Shen’s eyelids twitched.

He was wearing a hospital gown now. His fingers fumbled around. His pockets were empty… He was poor to begin with, so money didn’t matter.

But the Ruler of Truth was gone!

“Big S…” Gu Shen said carefully. After observing her expression, he changed the way he addressed her. “Big Brother Nan Jin, how long have I been lying here?”

This time, the scabbard didn’t emit a chill.

Nan Jin glanced at the clock and said irritably, “It’s been a total of twenty-eight hours since the call ended and you were brought here. The doctor examined you and said there’s nothing wrong with your body. You just needed some sleep… Are you a pig? How could you sleep for so long?”

Sleeping for so long… Gu Shen felt a little embarrassed.

He scratched his head and asked, “Um… how did I get here?”

“Don’t you remember?” Nan Jin frowned. She opened the projection screen in the ward, and a news report came into view. There was a sudden fire in the North Loop residence area in Oto City.

“The people who tried to kill you caused this fire. They thought that you were an ordinary person without any power. But they didn’t expect that, at the critical moment, you awakened your ‘transcendence’, and it’s even an extremely high-rank ability.”

As Nan Jin explained, she noticed that Gu Shen’s expression wasn’t right.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” she asked with concern.

“It’s nothing.” Gu Shen rubbed his forehead.

What’s going on… From Nan Jin’s tone, she seems to think that I’m also a transcendent with that kind of power. But that’s reasonable. The bloody scene on the roof can’t be explained otherwise.

But judging from the information she revealed, the Ruler of Truth hasn’t been exposed.

Orange should have taken it away… This is good news.

Gu Shen collected his thoughts and suddenly heard Nan Jin ask, “How does it feel to awaken transcendence?”

“…” Gu Shen tried his best to pretend to recall. “It was very painful. I feel like all my strength has been drained away… I don’t have a single drop now.”

Nan Jin comforted, “The stronger the power of a transcendent, the heavier the burden. I saw the scene on the roof… Your awakened ability is powerful, so it’s normal for you to overdraft yourself. Don’t worry.”

Gu Shen was a bit worried. “What about those two people… Will I have to take any responsibility?”

“Don’t worry. The people who do those kinds of things hide underground and can’t see the light of day.” Nan Jin’s attitude was surprisingly gentle. “Moreover, you’re now a member of the Adjudication Bureau. No one will dare to bully you in the future… After all, you have to look at the owner when you beat a dog.”

“That’s good…” Gu Shen heaved a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he sat up with an astonished expression. “Wait! What did you just say? What bureau am I a member of?!”

“Adjudication Bureau.”

“Adjudi-what?”

“Adjudication Bureau.” Nan Jin, contrary to her usual demeanor, patiently taught Gu Shen to pronounce these two words and took out a paper contract with a playful tone. “Here… This is the contract you signed before being sent to the hospital. My teacher signed it on your behalf.”

The dense words on the contract made Gu Shen dizzy. Finally, he saw his crooked signature in the lower right corner and a red thumbprint pressed in mud.

Signature and seal? Gu Shen took the contract, his face full of astonishment.

“If you like it, take it. It doesn’t matter if you tear it because this is only a photocopy…”

Nan Jin poured a cup of tea for Gu Shen and said politely, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to join. Besides the economic losses caused by the fire last night, the cost of covering up the truth is not a small sum. In addition, the cost of your treatment in the hospital is quite high. Without the Adjudication Bureau, I’m afraid you’ll have to pay these bills yourself.”

Gu Shen: “???”

“It’s about… a few hundred thousand. But does it matter how much it is to you? Last night, we checked your bank account, and the balance is about five thousand yuan,” Nan Jin said sympathetically. “This bit of money is barely enough to pay your rent for the next quarter, right?”

It’s indeed not enough… Gu Shen fell completely silent.

Nan Jin comforted, “Moreover, you don’t seem to be aware of your future situation… If you don’t join the Adjudication Bureau, you will be sent to the interrogation room again because of your involvement in the two transcendental incidents, A-009 and the fire. This interrogation won’t be as simple as before. According to the Supervision Treaty of the Safety Committee, the people from the Penitentiary Bureau will put you on the ‘suspected out-of-control individuals list’ until they completely eliminate any danger. At best, you will be closely monitored. At worst, you will be directly detained.”

Nan Jin put the report away and said seriously, “So, think about it yourself. If you behave well, not only will we cover the hospital bills but also the losses from the fire. For the following interrogation, my teacher will personally intervene and bail you out from the Penitentiary Bureau.”

He looked at the bill.

Then he looked at Nan Jin.

“What do you mean by behave well? This is called a good bird chooses the right tree to nest in,” Gu Shen said earnestly. “Just to be clear, it’s not that I can’t pay. I’m just simply interested in the transcendental world…”

A hint of amusement appeared on Nan Jin’s icy face.

She reached out, patted Gu Shen’s shoulder gently, and jested, “Is that so? What a coincidence. The Adjudication Bureau always welcomes sincere young people like you.”

Gu Shen accepted his fate and let out a long sigh. He asked carefully, “If I follow you, will I have to carry out dangerous missions all over the world? … Big Brother, can you look out for me?”

Be it the scene of Nan Jin fighting fiercely against A-009 or the scene of the transcendents being killed on the rooftop, they had a considerable impact on Gu Shen.

He still needed some time to calm down.

“Of course!” Nan Jin patted her little brother’s shoulder in satisfaction. She took out a silver badge from the inside of her trench coat and handed it to Gu Shen. “We are envoys of justice. We won’t do things like killing and arson… Do you see the words on the badge?”

Gu Shen touched the badge. This badge was about half the size of a palm and made of an unknown material. The texture was exquisite, and on the front of the badge were crossed swords. The design was incomparably intricate and exquisitely crafted, down to the finest details.

There was one word under the swords.

“Adjudication…” Gu Shen murmured softly in a daze.

Clang!

Nan Jin bent her finger slightly and flicked the top of the badge, making a crisp ring.

Only then did Gu Shen notice that there was a crown on the crossed swords. In the crown, two engraved cursive words were hidden. They were above the swords and quite concealed.

Gu Shen didn’t speak and only rubbed the badge with his fingers, his eyes becoming complicated.

“Okay, now isn’t the time to chat.” Nan Jin glanced at the clock and sat up straight. “It’s about time. Those guys from the Penitentiary Bureau should be coming soon. Wei Shu should be in charge of the interrogation this time. Now, I’ll tell you… how to deal with the upcoming interrogation.”