This is really not mechanical ascension

The city defense headquarters was located in the core area of Silver Grey City, and it was not close to where he was. Even taking the urban sky rail, it would take over an hour. By the time he arrived, it was already 1:00 PM.

As the violent law enforcement of Silver Grey City, the city defense department was quite imposing, nearly 900 meters high. This height made it stand out even among the surrounding skyscrapers.

The silver-white metallic exterior walls reflected the dim sunlight of the late afternoon. Between the buildings, aerial traction tracks intertwined, and shuttle-shaped sky rails periodically passed through.

There were quite a few people coming and going, those wearing blue-black uniforms, all with a calm demeanor.

Occasionally, aircraft would take off or land, spewing blue-purple flames from their engines, quickly disappearing into the sky.

As he tried to enter, he was stopped. A strikingly poised female guard sized him up, "What's this for? Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh... I'm here to report..." Li Ming responded.

"Report?" The female guard raised an eyebrow slightly, "Which department?"

"It should be Yang Peng, Captain Yang..."

Upon hearing this, the guard raised her hand, revealing a deep blue ring on her pristine wrist, "Calling security, do we have a new recruit reporting today?"

Li Ming couldn't hear the response, then the female guard looked at him again, "What's your name?"

"Li Ming."

"Wait here, someone will come to pick you up." Her attitude softened considerably.

Li Ming thanked her, chatting with the female guard intermittently.

It wasn't long before the glass doors opened, and a young man came out, initially frowning, but forcing a smile upon seeing the female guard, "Sorry to bother you, Sister Yu."

"It's nothing, quickly take this brother inside," Sister Yu said with a gentle laugh.

The young man led Li Ming through the door, into a remarkably quiet area.

"My name is Li Ning." The young guide complained, "Why did you only just arrive? I waited for almost half an hour this morning and didn't see you."

"Sorry, Brother Li, something came up this morning, and I got delayed," Li Ming apologized, admitting it was indeed his fault for being late.

Li Ning glanced back at him. Isn't this guy a bit of a loner?

But, hearing him apologize like that eased Li Ning's irritation, his expression relaxed, "It's not a big deal, just remember to be punctual from now on."

Training a new recruit was a difficult task. Those who had been with Captain Yang for several years had seen him a few times and didn't rate him highly. They said his personality was shy, he spoke little, and his work ability was probably not up to par.

All things considered, it was a bitter task, but he didn't want to sour relationships either.

"Captain Yang asked you to follow me to get familiar with the procedures. Let's start with the registration and pick up what you need," Li Ning led Li Ming to the elevator and they went up to the 143rd floor.

"Old Wang... you're on duty today," Li Ning greeted warmly.

There was another person in front, with a round face and sideburns, collecting items. He turned around for a glance but didn't speak. Li Ning didn't greet him either.

The place appeared to be a storage room, built with thick metal walls. Looking around, Li Ming was envious, Hm… if I just took a little, just a little bit, it wouldn't be a problem, right?

He reconsidered; the area was full of surveillance cameras. Better not do anything out of the ordinary.

There was only a small door, from which a skinny, sleazy head popped out, "What's up, kid, what do you want?"

"The new recruit is here to pick up police gear." Li Ning said.

Upon hearing this, the person who had been about to leave turned back, glanced quickly at Li Ming and as quickly turned away, taking the elevator to leave.

"Name."

"Li Ming."

"Oh, just arrived to report." Old Wang pulled up the data, checking carefully.

After confirming there were no issues, he entered the storeroom, and after a while, he brought out a set of blue-black uniform, a metallic shield, and a black short stick.

"Uniform, riot shield, baton... after making sure there's no issue, just sign here." He popped out a virtual screen.

Li Ming looked toward Li Ning, and seeing him nod, signed the document and picked up the items, a trace of astonishment flickering in his eyes.

[B-11 Standard Riot Shield—Unranked: Standard police riot shield, completely unremarkable.

Control Conditions: 3 points of metal energy

Control Effect: Strength enhancement—10%

Control Ability--Solid Wall: Adds 20% Defense]

[G-12 Model Police Baton--Not Graded: Standard police baton, utterly unremarkable.

Control Conditions: 1 Point of Metal Energy

Control Effect: Close Combat--Beginner

Control Ability--Baton Strike: Charge for two seconds, adds 10% strength.]

Tsk... No wonder it's the law enforcement agency; just joining and already they've thrown over two Controllable Objects.

The baton is nothing to look at, but the riot shield is nice, even has stamina enhancements, as well as defensive measures, it should be considerable after an upgrade.

A pie falling from the sky, even if small, is still pleasing.

Seeing the smile on Li Ming's lips, Li Ning couldn't help but shake his head; being here doesn't mean one can rest easy, this kid is happy too soon.

"Brother Li, don't we get guns here?" The two were waiting for the elevator when Li Ming asked.

"Guns?" Li Ning laughed, "You just joined, how could you be handling guns already? You need to pass my test first."

"Your test?"

"Just follow me for now, wait a month, and I'll provide an assessment report. If it's not satisfactory, you might not be able to stay here," warned Li Ning.

Of course, given Captain Yang's face, he wouldn't write anything too harsh. He just didn't want the other party to rest too easy, saving trouble later.

Li Ming pondered thoughtfully when, ding-dong, the elevator doors opened. Li Ning was about to walk in when his expression suddenly changed.

The elevator was packed with people, all dressed in blue and black uniforms, led by a thin middle-aged man with a sinister gaze, sallow skin, and messy hair.

"Zhao... Captain Zhao..." Li Ning's throat tightened as he gritted his teeth and greeted.

"I heard that a newcomer has joined under Yang Peng," his voice was hoarse as his eyes fell on Li Ming.

Li Ning internally groaned, why did he have to run into this guy? Wasn't he out this morning?

He stood in front of Li Ming, forcing a smile, "Captain Zhao, what brings you here? Are you here to..."

Zhao cut him off instantly: "Newcomer, even as auxiliary, needs an assessment, right? But I've checked the Record for the past two days, nobody was assessed."

"Captain Zhao... you..." Li Ning's face changed, but then, the people from the elevator stepped out, encircling him, boxing him to one side without laying a hand on him.

Li Ning, of course, didn't dare to strike first, nervously breaking into a cold sweat, "Captain Zhao, are you really..."

"You're the newcomer?" He walked up to Li Ming, his words chilly: "Letting you in without an assessment, does Yang Peng treat the city guard like his own house?"

Compared to Li Ning's anxiety, Li Ming was much calmer: "I'm sorry, I intended to take the assessment earlier, but my father just died. According to the customs of my hometown, I had to mourn him for a few days, so it got delayed. I came today for the assessment."

Zhao's expression paused momentarily, and the probing and mocking eyes around him froze, quickly becoming more solemn as they retracted their smirks; this excuse...

The death of a close relative cannot be criticized, otherwise, once exposed on the StarNet, watch out, if not death, a severe backlash is inevitable.

It wasn't hard to investigate this matter; he didn't think Li Ming was lying.

Li Ning was stunned, hurriedly nodding, "That's right, that's right, we planned to wait for Captain Yang to return..."

"No need to wait for him, let's go," Zhao quickly thought of a solution: "Rules are dead, people are alive, since there's such a situation, a two-day delay is normal, but since you're here, let's not delay further, to avoid trouble for Captain Yang."

He left no room for argument, sidestepping to clearly coerce Li Ming into going.

Joining the city guard without an audit obviously had issues, otherwise, there was no need for such an irregular method.

Now was a sensitive time, the Interstellar Review Team and the Blue Star accompanying personnel were on their way, any small issue would be magnified, and he was not going to miss this chance.

Captain Yang... you brought this on yourself, don't blame me.

Fuck!

This Zhao Xiong, son of a bitch, truly despicable!

Li Ning cursed in his heart, he knew Li Ming's background, impossible to pass the assessment.

It's not that others haven't done this before, all these years with Captain Yang, just this once, and it had to be this sly old fox he ran into.

His inner turmoil grew, but he was helpless, wanting to pull out his smart terminal to send a warning but had no chance, only to be dragged along into the elevator.