The Weight of a Black Iron Rank

Investigator Liao still vividly recalled the furious expression on the Paladin Director’s face when he had returned to report his findings.

His roars crashed down like tumultuous waves.

“You fool! You let a mere newly corrupted goblin slip through your fingers?!”

“The bureau has already spent so much on funding your abilities, and this is the result you bring me?”

“You utter failure! I don’t think you’re fit for this position any longer!”

“No, no, please… please just give me a little more time! I swear I’ll…!” Investigator Liao pleaded, his head bowed, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

“What makes you so special? A mere Black Iron rank who could only get into a vocational college?” the Paladin Director retorted sarcastically.

The Director, a Bronze-rank Paladin, was roughly the same age as Investigator Liao and had even attended school with him; yet, their current statuses were worlds apart.

Such was the way of things; in this society, the chasm between Bronze and Black Iron ranks was akin to that between the extraordinary and the mundane.

“I, I… I’ve already uncovered numerous leads! I’ll soon get a handle on it!” Investigator Liao responded, forcing himself to speak.

The Director snorted upon hearing this. “Very well, I’ll grant you one last chance… If you still fail to apprehend that Liu Xia, don’t bother collecting this month’s salary; just clear out!”

“However, the bureau will no longer provide any financial support for your investigation! If you’re as confident as you claim, then surely you won’t mind the limitations imposed by this minor penalty, will you?”

Investigator Liao nodded frantically, assenting, “Yes, yes!”

‘He secretly cursed his luck, regretting having taken on such a troublesome task.’

He had initially believed that confronting a civilian on the verge of corrupting into a goblin would be an effortless endeavor, yet the operation had been fraught with unexpected complications.

What Investigator Liao had least anticipated was that a mere Black Iron rank case would somehow draw the Director’s personal attention, subjecting him to immense pressure.

‘What in the hell is going on?’ Investigator Liao increasingly felt as though he had stumbled into a quagmire of trouble.

With no other recourse, and to avoid being fired and losing his hard-won job, Investigator Liao had no choice but to voluntarily work overtime.

Recalling the entire capture process, the only individuals involved had been himself, a young man suspected of being a high-rank individual, and a beautiful young woman.

He had previously dismissed his suspicions about them, but now, with all other leads exhausted, Investigator Liao could only turn his suspicions back to them.

Now, thinking back, the young man had clearly sustained significant injuries during his previous encounter with the goblin, yet when they met again, his wounds had completely healed.

At the time, he had dismissed this detail as mere proof of the man’s wealth, but reflecting on it now, was it truly free of suspicion?

In the dim, late-night office, the middle-aged Investigator Liao was swamped, chain-smoking cigarettes and poring over document after document…

‘Nothing? Absolutely nothing! If based solely on the records, that young man is an utterly ordinary person!’

‘And the girl? She doesn’t exist in any records! Is she unregistered?’

‘Damn it! What’s the deal with those two? All overt leads stop here…’

‘Should I share this information with my colleagues?’ He swiftly dismissed the idea. The District 13 Investigation Bureau operated on a last-place elimination system, and his current task completion rate was already abysmal, not to mention the significant funds he had already expended. If a colleague were to complete the task, he wouldn’t escape the fate of losing his job.

Investigator Liao unconsciously toyed with a Black Iron Card in his hand, his face etched with worry. ‘Now that I’ve lost the bureau’s financial support, if I want to continue using my abilities for this investigation, I’ll have to rely on my own savings…’

This Black Iron Card was a ‘Golden House’ artifact — a lesser manifestation of the Sacred Relic created by the Temple of Wealth using secret techniques. It allowed individuals to store gold coins beyond their inherent ‘Gold Content’ capacity.

After all, the ‘Gold Content’ of an ordinary Black Iron rank individual ranged from a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 99; reaching 100 signified a Bronze rank. Investigator Liao himself possessed a ‘Gold Content’ of only 72, which was the average level for vocational college graduates.

However, as society progressively advanced, even the Black Iron rank’s ‘Gold Content’ ceiling proved far insufficient for meeting ordinary daily expenses. Furthermore, women, possessing only blessing abilities, lacked a ‘Gold Content’ numerical value, making them unable to store or produce gold coins on their own.

In ancient times, produced gold coins had to be physically stored, a highly inconvenient process.

In the modern era, the Temple of Wealth created the Sacred Relic ‘Golden House,’ whose lesser manifestations were the various ranks of gold cards, used for storing currency of the corresponding rank.

Later, they even developed a ‘credit lending function,’ a truly epoch-making invention that allowed people to draw wealth from the future into the present.

Returning to the matter at hand, for Investigator Liao, the loss of bureau funding meant that relying on his abilities to solve the case would become financially strained in every conceivable way.

“Could it be… that I’ll have to rely on the power of the underworld to solve this case?” Investigator Liao’s expression flickered with hesitation.

The underworld had an insatiable demand for blessed gold coins; if he could establish a connection, he could often achieve more for the same price.

However, though the middle-aged Investigator Liao was adept at navigating social situations, he had always maintained a bottom line: he would never collude with the underworld.

But now…

Just then, Investigator Liao’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, furrowed his brows for a moment, then plastered on a smile before answering.

“Hello, wife, what’s wrong?” He tried to keep his voice gentle, hoping to avoid any irritation.

“Liao! When are you going to send over Yuan Yuan’s tuition fee? The end of this month is the final deadline!” As expected, the woman on the other end erupted in anger.

“Wife~ wife! Please calm down first. Don’t we still have some gold coins at home? You should have some on your card too; just use those for now, okay?”

“That’s my money for going out with my girlfriends! You want me to use *that*?”

“Wife, please try to understand me! I’m working on a case recently, and the funding isn’t necessarily enough; I even have to use my own money. Just wait a little longer, please? I promise to send Yuan Yuan’s tuition once my salary comes in at the end of the month!”

“Liao! The biggest regret of my life was marrying a good-for-nothing like you! Not only can you barely produce any gold coins, but you’re also full of excuses!” The woman’s hysterical sobs echoed from the phone.

“…” Investigator Liao’s expression was blank, yet he could only offer gentle words of comfort, eventually managing to calm his wife down enough for her to hang up.

He leaned back in his chair, letting out a long sigh of relief, just as he was about to resume work, his phone suddenly buzzed with a message.

‘Old man, send some gold coins, urgent.’ These few simple words nearly made Investigator Liao choke on his breath.

However, after a moment of thought, a wave of guilt washed over him. The old father still transferred some money to his teenage daughter, making his already meager savings even tighter.

Yet, seeing the reply: ‘Thanks, Dad~❤’ the old father smiled faintly, quickly reminding his daughter not to let her mother know.

‘Sigh…’ After such a tormenting ordeal, Investigator Liao felt utterly drained.

‘It’s truly difficult to be a man…’

His former resolve now crumbled, unable to be upheld. He found a certain phone number in his files and dialed it.