Chapter 695 Changes to the branch
He had four more days left before his tenure as the branch chief of the Deer Mountain Branch was over. He had expected the Judicial Review Committee to come to a decision on the last day, or have him extend his stay while they deliberated on who the next replacement would be.
"The call is being held at the communication nexus room I take it?" asked Yang Qing as he made his way into the branch.
"Yes, considering the confidentiality of the matter, it's the only place we can guarantee the conversation won't be eavesdropped on," administrator Mo Guang said as he led Yang Qing to the designated communication room which was stacked with antiscrying arrays and other features that prevented one from being spied on including even isolating karma.
One could consider the room one of the most expensive and important places in the whole branch. Things of utmost importance were done in that room which was usually the receiving and sending of important information and even the receiving of strategic resources.
There was a transportation array in the room that worked similarly to teleportation arrays except it could not support living organisms passing through it. Despite its apparent limitations, any array that touched on the elements of space was difficult to lay down and consumed a lot of resources both to lay it down and operate it.
The transport array was considered a strategic resource that the branch would only use in dire circumstances, for example, if they were besieged by an enemy they couldn't escape, and the protection array in the branch wasn't enough to contain the enemy long enough for help to arrive.
In such a scenario, they would relay their current state to those at the headquarters in charge of handling such situations, who would then provide the necessary expedient assistance. That assistance usually came in the form of sending an artifact or a talisman of varying abilities which was dependent on what they were dealing with.
Yang Qing knew they were different grades to the transportation arrays. The grade was dependent on the level of danger in the area where the branch was located, the distance from headquarters or major branches, and the strength of the personnel within that branch. The one at the Deer Mountain Branch was a top-tier blue-grade transportation array that could handle the transportation of top-tier monarch-grade artifacts, but with the dangers around the place, Yang Qing didn't know if they would elevate it to the gold grade.
But with a kingdom-wide array being laid down on the range, Yang Qing felt it was less likely. The Order was pretty frugal in how they used their resources. With a whole continent to cover, they never had enough.
It wasn't long before Yang Qing and Administrator Mo Guang arrived at the communication and transportation room. They both stood before a bamboo pot with a young bamboo shoot growing out of it. Yang Qing took out his branch chief token and muttered an incantation that triggered a reaction from the token as produced a silver drop that contained an ancient-looking glyph within it.
The drop trickled down the bamboo shoot making its way downwards to the soil and leaving a trail of silver runes that combined to form a silver swirling entrance.
Yang Qing and Administrator Mo Guang walked into the silver swirl, appearing in a tiny courtyard with small bamboo shoots that had concentrated to the point they looked like verdant grass, a small pond, and a five-meter wooden bridge that led to the lone building in the area. The building was a thatched bamboo hut.
"Stop teasing him, Enlai.." softly said the single woman from the group of four. It was Xu Biya another one of the members of the Judicial Review Committee.
"I told you he wouldn't agree. I expect that 20,000-year-old ancient pine breeze wine when we are done here.."
"He was close, a few more seconds and he would have caved in.."
"Seniors, can't you be serious? You even made bets? How unprofessional....wait, shouldn't I be entitled to a part of the winnings? It is about me after all..that 20,000-year-old ancient pine breeze wine, I wonder how good it is.." Yang Qing greedily thought as his gaze fell on the two gamblers from the Judicial Review Committee.
One was Jiang Chen who had won the bet, while the loser was Jia Bohai.
After a minute, the mood instantly turned somber from the lightheartedness and this was due to Long Enlai's announcement.
"Yang Qing, your predecessor, Branch Chief Li Wan has chosen to resign from his post and will be taking a break to decide what he wants to do next, though by his admission, he has said he would not be considering a return to a branch chief post even if it's to a different branch.
Along with him, Inquisitor Ye An chose the same. She too has permanently resigned from her post as an inquisitor and will not be doing so for the foreseeable future. She has decided to transfer to the Talisman Refining Division.
As for Chief Inquisitor Hao Da, as you know he was due to be promoted as the next branch chief of the Three Fires Branch. He is still willing to take up that post and will be taking up that role in two months after his treatment has been completed.
And lastly, the previous administrator, Administrator Su Cheng while he has agreed to retain his job as an administrator, he has requested to be posted to a different branch, which we will agree to.
Ideally, we would have sent him to the branch Hao Da was going to, being former colleagues and all, but his current cultivation base would make him ill-suited for the role, and the current administrator of the branch made a request to remain at the branch as he already has family there, from his wife's side. Relocating him would be a bit improper..." Long Enlai said.
Yang Qing couldn't help but sigh at the announcement. While he had expected some to refuse to come back, considering the experience they had, all of them refusing was a surprise though not too much of a surprise when one considered they had lost two members.
If he lost members of his team, Yang Qing felt he would likely make the same choice as the previous branch chief and resign his posting and do something else.
"Who will be their replacement?" asked Yang Qing with a somber sigh.