Enforcer Manual
Chapter 35: Welcome to District 17_1

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Welcome to District 17_1

The Silver Star Medal was initially awarded by the United Government after its establishment to those heroes who had made significant contributions to the nation. Over time, it evolved into a symbol of the rescuers’ identities.

The gun and the shield are the insignia of the United Government, and the two stars underneath represent the rank of the holder.

This indicates that the original holder of the medal was a two-star rescuer validated by the United Government.

Upon officially becoming a rescuer, one is awarded a one-star Silver Star Medal. Afterwards, the awarding body considers the rescuer’s contributions to the United Government and their personal skills to increase their rank. Once a rescuer reaches level three, the Silver Star Medal is replaced with a gold texture Gold Emblem Medal.

The highest rank for the Medal is six stars, typically the rescuers who are actively visible to the public are level four or below, and the people with five-star or higher badges are mostly like legends that you’ve heard of but never met.

Song Lan didn’t really understand the rescuer assessment and ranking process, but had a decent grasp of the medal’s star tier system.

This was thanks to online debates regarding rescuers which he found quite engaging, and the star count on the medal was as crucial to the fanbases as a trump card.

The consensus is that a lower star implies less strength than a higher one - a difference of even a single star can be used to infer that "[lower star] can definitely be beaten by [higher star]". In this struggle for power, the side with fewer stars is at a natural disadvantage, and even the star’s fans hold less esteem than those of the opponent’s.

Now the issue is, this kid is holding a Silver Star Medal engraved with two stars?

You should know this isn’t something meant to be a gift, to a rescuer, it’s akin to an identity card or a military registration card.

From the boy’s language, it’s easy to deduce that the medal seemed to belong to the first person who treated him well. This two-star rescuer not only gave him the medal but also allowed him to enter the city alone. This suggests that he (or she) is most likely in danger, probably dead in the "outside world".

Taking into account the Foster Family’s intense focus on this child...

The rescuer was probably killed by the Foster Family.

Killing a rescuer would starkly differ from killing ordinary civilians from District 17. If the deceased rescuer had a mission out there, this would essentially mean going against the entire rescuer system. Even the Foster Family would likely have to accept an investigation from the United Government.

No wonder the High Prosecutor Dominas himself came to find this child.

"You better keep this yourself,"

Song Lan pushed the medal the boy handed him back, jokingly, how could he possibly accept such a frightening gift.

To ordinary people, the Silver Star Medal is like a ticking bomb. Not only is it useless, but also if discovered, it would immediately be reported, followed by law enforcers showing up at your door and taking you to a cell for questioning about the origin of the medal.

"Remember, hide it well and don’t let anyone know you have this medal."

The boy seemed to get the point and nodded. He then said, "But I still haven’t repaid your kindness."

"You want to repay me?"

"Yes."

The boy nodded eagerly.

"Alright, do you see that bicycle over there?"

Song Lan pointed to the MK-Ⅱ parked not too far away, "This is my prized possession. If you want to repay me, you can help me watch it. Make sure nobody steals it."

Of course, he wouldn’t genuinely ask a boy of ten or so for a reward, offering to watch the bike was just an offhand comment. Here in District 17 Law Enforcers Headquarters, even if the thieves had the audacity, they wouldn’t dare steal anything.

"Also, one more thing."

Song Lan, who was about to leave, stopped and said, "Don’t get spotted by the Inspection Department."

............

Meanwhile, at the District 17 border checkpoint.

A bus carrying around a dozen people slowly passed through the border checkpoint.

Suddenly, someone on the bus exclaimed, which woke up the tired passengers.

When they looked outside the window, they were terrified to find that their bus was surrounded by a security team, with their dark gun barrels pointed at them, leaving no blind spots.

Soon, the bus door opened.

A man in a black suit, with a friendly smile, walked in.

"Don’t worry, this is just a routine check."

Guided by the man, the people orderly exited the bus one after another, until the man reached the back seat and stopped in front of a short-haired woman who was listening to music with her eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.

Upon seeing the woman, the man’s smile faded a little as he tapped her shoulder.

The short-haired woman squinted her eyes open and looked at the man, lazily saying, "Are we there already?"

"High Prosecutor Dominas welcomes your arrival," the man whispered into the woman’s ear, so that only the two of them could hear.

"Dominas..." The woman, her brown eyes sparkled with interest as she glanced at the man, "It’s been a while, I didn’t expect him to become the High Prosecutor."

The short-haired woman stretched a long yawn, extending her hands high above her head.

Meanwhile, the man had already turned around, his back facing the woman as he said, "Oh, and High Prosecutor Dominas said you could do things your way this time, cause as much chaos as you like."

...

As the man exited the bus, everyone, including the passengers, were lined up into a small group under the ushers of the security officers. He turned to face the panicked crowd, showing them his warm smile once again, "We’ve received a tip-off that someone among you has illicit drugs. We might need to take up a bit of your time so you can come with us. Please rest assured, we will act impartially and justly."

Following that, they were ushered into a prisoner transport vehicle with the gun barrels poking on their backs.

It was only after the prisoner transport vehicle disappeared into the end of the road that the short-haired woman, having packed her luggage, dragged a large black suitcase off the bus.

The black suitcase was surprisingly large, almost chest-high when placed on the ground.

After taking a few steps, the short-haired woman acted as if she just remembered something and turned to look in the direction of the border checkpoint.

What she saw was a sign saying, "Welcome to District 17".

"It’s been a few years since I’ve been back..." she murmured to herself, then hooked the corner of her mouth into a smile, bent back her waist, stretched out both hands in a straight line, connecting the thumb and index finger to form the shape of a picture frame. The sign at the border checkpoint and the bus they had been on were captured in the frame.

"Click."

She mimicked the sound of a camera shutter.

The next moment, the bus within the "photo frame" was crushed by an invisible force, nearly instantly compressed into a small black sphere.

The short-haired woman walked up, bent down to pick up the little sphere, and casually threw it into a nearby trash bin.