Meanwhile.
Xu De was walking out of the Bureau of Justice hall and through the courtyard toward the main gate when he suddenly froze. He seemed to sense something and abruptly stopped in his tracks.
The next second.
A transparent blue screen materialized out of thin air before him.
[Congratulations, you have completed a criminal trial x1]
[Your client was extremely satisfied with your service. Satisfaction: 98%. You received an exceptional evaluation!]
[The ’Li Family Village Case’ has been archived.]
[Case Notes:]
[(10 years, 120 calendar months, 1,000 kilometers traveled, tens of millions of steps, over four thousand days... This road has been too long, so long that I grew numb, a walking corpse.)]
[(This road has also been too crowded, so crowded that I was swept along by the tides of people. Countless faces dazzled my eyes and made my head spin. I stared at them, seeing every single face in the crowd with perfect clarity.)]
[(Joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, desire, fear, shock... I tried to look past the distorted, exaggerated masks of flesh to find the one Bone Appearance I remembered.)]
’This is...’
’The system has determined the case is complete?’
’Satisfaction: 98%? Not 100%?’
’That makes sense. After all, this case should never have happened in the first place... 100% satisfaction would mean Wang Mei was never trafficked ten years ago!’
Xu De paused. He came to a complete stop, lowered his head, and silently read on.
A series of prompts appeared on the light blue screen.
[Client satisfaction: 98%. Distributing rewards based on satisfaction level...]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Talent Skill: ’Bone Reading’ lv1 (0/10)]
[Bone Appearance: When you look at a person, you see their unhideable bones before you see their flesh! Perhaps you could try using the most basic ability of age determination by bone...]
[(Note: This talent can be improved through personal study!)]
[Congratulations, you have obtained Gratitude Coins x10]
(Current Status)
[Name: Xu De]
[Age: 25]
[Gratitude Coins: 10]
[Win Rate: 100%]
[Archived Cases: ’Li Family Village Case’]
[Talent Skills: Chef lv2 (0/20), Bone Reading lv1 (0/10)]
Xu De felt a wave of dizziness as a mountain of unfamiliar knowledge was forcibly crammed into his brain!
His brow furrowed slightly, and his breath grew hot.
His mind began to process the abstruse knowledge, comprehending and understanding it at an incredible speed!
After a long moment...
"Hoo..."
Xu De’s brow relaxed, his complexion gradually improved, and his breathing steadied.
The panel had given him the Bone Reading skill, but... this wasn’t an active skill like in a game. It was pure knowledge!
That’s right, he had been treated like a USB drive. Without his consent, knowledge about Bone Appearance had been violently crammed into his brain!
’It’s just...’
"This... If someone with a less developed brain experienced this, they’d probably be shocked into becoming an idiot."
Xu De took a deep breath, feeling a little overwhelmed.
It was too brutal, like being forced to multitask against your will. He felt as if his consciousness was being torn apart.
Seeing his state, the two people beside him couldn’t help but look worried.
"Lawyer Xu, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
Xu De instinctively looked up and saw Lin Yue, but his vision at that moment was... strange.
It was as if he was simultaneously seeing her skin and the Bone Appearance underneath—a beauty and a skeleton all at once!
Startled, he blinked, and the strange sensation vanished. His vision returned to normal, and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
"I’m fine, just a little hypoglycemia."
Xu De casually made an excuse to brush it off.
He had been exhausted yesterday. After getting home, he’d hastily eaten a couple of bites before falling into a deep sleep, his body worn out.
He slept until this morning and only had a single steamed bun to tide him over. By now, he was starving.
The three of them made up their minds and started to walk out of the Bureau of Justice.
However.
"Wait, wait!"
"Lawyer Xu, please wait a moment!"
They had just lifted their feet and taken a few steps when a series of hurried, anxious shouts came from behind them.
Xu De turned around and saw a middle-aged man hurrying after them from the hall, a puzzled look on his face.
The man was wearing a jacket and carried the air of a superior, though he was currently a bit out of breath.
"And you are...?"
Xu De asked politely, a little hesitant.
After catching his breath, Yang Guotao smiled and began guiding them back into the Bureau of Justice.
"I’m Yang Guotao. Lawyer Xu, you probably don’t know me, but we’ve met now."
Xu De thought for a moment and instantly understood what the man meant.
He was probably some leader from the Bureau of Justice. Xu De also knew why the man was looking for him, so he simply went along with it, following him back inside.
"I heard just now that you were here to... submit registration documents for a law firm?"
Back in the main hall, they felt the cool air.
Yang Guotao turned to look at Xu De, sizing him up discreetly.
As someone from the Bureau of Justice, he naturally dealt with lawyers all day long and had seen countless young ones, but...
He had never seen a lawyer so young who could achieve what had been done in court on the 15th.
It wasn’t that it was rare; he had simply never seen it before, ever!
"That’s right. I’m preparing to register a partnership law firm in Lusen City."
Xu De said, "But... aren’t you all closing? I figured I’d go eat first and submit the documents later. There’s still time."
"Ah, don’t worry about eating or not eating."
Yang Guotao took the documents from him personally.
"We’re here to serve the people. How could we delay Lawyer Xu’s business? Lunch will just be a few minutes later, that’s all."
"Then I’ll have to trouble Brother Yang."
Xu De said with a smile, taking the opportunity to build a connection.
’Tsk, this kid...’
Yang Guotao felt like laughing. The young man really knew how to seize an opportunity, closing the distance between them with a single sentence.
But it didn’t matter.
Being on good terms with a lawyer is never a bad thing for anyone!
"Lawyer Xu, are you... tight on funds?" Yang Guotao asked.
Hearing this, Xu De paused for a moment before saying, "I am, a little."
He wasn’t short on money, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t say he was.
The man was clearly offering a friendly connection, and he had no reason to push it away.
Most importantly, being on good terms with the Bureau of Justice... the benefits for him would be immense!
As expected.
Yang Guotao pondered for a moment upon hearing this, then said:
"How about this."
"Lusen City has been discussing local policies to support university student entrepreneurship in recent years. They’re planning a pilot program this year with significant support. On the funding side, there are several interest-free loans with flexible repayment terms."
"I can coordinate on your behalf and try to secure a higher loan amount for you."
"As for the Bureau of Justice... some of the unnecessary procedures, you won’t have to... *cough*. You get what I mean."
"Lusen City has seen many new companies in recent years, and some of the better-developing ones don’t have a dedicated legal department... I can try asking around for you."
"The Bureau’s legal aid office can also align with local policies and give you some preferential treatment..."
"..."
’Is this... funding and a source of cases all in one go!?’
’No, not quite all in one go, but it can definitely solve my most pressing problems!’
Xu De wasn’t short on money, but that didn’t mean he had cash on hand.
The money for the law firm was coming from Lin Yue’s personal funds. She was a partner, yes, but you couldn’t expect her to foot the entire bill.
She was already putting up 100,000 plus the rent for the office. To ask for more... Lin Yue might not mind, transforming into the Wealth God True Monarch, but Xu De wouldn’t have the face to ask for that money!
Alternatively, he’d have to shamelessly ask Zhang Hu to ’give’ him money, but since Zhang Hu wouldn’t see any ’direct benefit’ at this stage, using that money would feel somewhat constrained.
’So...’
’If he could get a sufficient amount of funding from official channels, then transportation, office hardware, travel, appraisals, postage, material fees... all these headaches could be solved instantly!’
After all, the law firm wouldn’t be able to open for another month. He would have little to no income during that period, and by then, the buzz from the Li Family Village case might have died down... In short, it was going to be a lot of trouble.
Especially the source of cases.
Legal aid cases could be good or bad, and who got the good ones was entirely up to the Bureau of Justice...
Not to mention the intangible benefits, like getting the ’green light’ in certain places!
’And the price?’