Enforcer Manual
Chapter 710 - 708: Madman_1

Chapter 710: Chapter 708: Madman_1

Melissa had never believed in love at first sight, nor did she have any regard for those romance novels that were popular online. She thought that instead of immersing oneself in a fantasy world, it was better to study practical things that help in life.

Like the "Human Anatomy Guide".

It was a textbook that everyone in the anti-terrorist squad had to read, as it helped them handle criminals effectively.

However, a few days ago, during an operation, their target struck a chord in her heart. After a thorough investigation, she learned that the person they tried to apprehend was Rob Lucci, an Executor for the highest operational sector of Military Intelligence Section Seven.

He matched perfectly with her idea of a handsome, mysterious, and powerful lover.

Since then, she would often think about him in her daydreams. She searched online and found that this condition was known as lovesickness. The only disappointing part was that, for the time being, her lover had no clue she existed.

The psychological consultation went very well today. After setting the auto navigation, Melissa sat in the passenger seat and started reading "A Love Tip Every Day," which Dr. Lucy had given her. Even the passersby on the street and the city itself seemed much more agreeable to her.

The anti-terrorist squad wasn’t a place where romance belonged.

Although relationships weren’t explicitly forbidden within the team, as far as Melissa knew, none of the couples in the department ever ended up well. Ordinary people couldn’t stand their work, and the very few departmental loves... missing limbs or breaks were common, and sometimes they had to urgently respond to domestic incidents among the squad members.

When Melissa returned to the office, she sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat unusual.

Gone was the normally relaxed and cheerful ambiance. The team members, seeing her enter, pretended to bury themselves in their work with an awkward avoidance that couldn’t disguise their guilt.

Although their relationship was hierarchical, their day-to-day interactions were more akin to friendship.

The kind of good friends who shared common interests.

The kind of ironclad relationship where they could hack people together, deal with crime scenes together. Every day they dealt with criminals, and handling Cyber crazies was no different from living on the knife-edge.

Someday in the future, they might even go to the morgue together. They were that inseparable on the job.

"Are you guys gossiping about me behind my back?"

Melissa put the book Dr. Lucy gave her into her drawer and asked.

She did not intend to hide her romance from the others in the office, but there wasn’t much to tell yet; she hadn’t even held hands with Rob Lucci. According to the internet, such things needed to progress gradually.

"How could we? How would we dare gossip about the captain?"

The teammate who usually joked around with her replied. Normally, the rest of the office would chime in with laughter, but today no one did, and the joker teammate embarrassingly lowered his head, saying no more.

"What is actually going on? There was no case this afternoon; there’s no need to be so downhearted, right?"

Melissa felt irritated by the office mood and couldn’t focus on the book, "Given the recent trends, a case will come eventually. Just take it as a day off."

"No, Captain, you’ve misunderstood."

"Then why is it? Because I went to a psychological consultation? Don’t worry, my personal matters won’t interfere with work deployment."

"This..."

The team members hesitated and finally, the one who had made the joke earlier spoke up, "It’s Ulan. He’s in trouble."

"Ulan?"

Melissa was taken aback, and looking around, she realized that Ulan was nowhere to be seen.

They had seen each other that very day.

"Is it the work of a Cyber crazy?"

For the anti-terrorist squad, "in trouble" basically equated to death. Melissa now understood the bizarre atmosphere of the office.

Ulan was one of the oldest members in the anti-terrorist squad; he was from the same intake as her. Back then, they were among over a dozen people fished out of prison by legislators under a new act, and now only three remained in their positions.

Besides her and Ulan, another had also become the captain of the Third Action Support Team.

Ulan was an absolute expert in this field, having dealt with dozens of Cyber crazy cases. In the United Government, it was hard to find someone with more experience than him.

"It wasn’t a Cyber crazy. It’s... Ulan himself. He’s been acting a bit off lately, we don’t know what provoked him, but his behavior was too abnormal. We asked him to go home and rest earlier."

Melissa froze for a moment, then frowned and said, "Say it all at once next time."

She had braced herself for news of Ulan’s sacrifice and was prepared to attend his funeral. Besides their colleagues, no one else would care about the death of a former Cyber psychotic; families had mostly cut ties with them when they were locked up.

"Captain, his situation is complex. After you left, he spread some inappropriate remarks. But that’s probably not what he really means. Maybe the pressure has just been too much for him recently."

The team members made excuses for Ulan.

Most who joined the anti-terrorist squad later had been looked after by the old-timer. Among the many former Cyber psychotics, Ulan was definitely the kindest and most approachable.

"What did he say?"

"Well... Captain, you might as well ask him after work. We told him to go home."

Melissa was always straightforward at work; she couldn’t stand when her subordinates were beating around the bush on critical issues.

So she got up immediately, delegated some work to others, and headed straight for Ulan’s apartment.

The apartment was located in the old city area of The First Region, one of the few residential areas left.

He was a local, the apartment had been left to him by his parents who passed away many years ago. They had survived the Third War but hadn’t lived to see the days when technology could extend life. Not long after the United Government was established, they departed. Ulan would occasionally invite his favorite colleagues from the bureau over for a barbecue party at his place.

It was said that his skills in barbecuing had been passed on from his parents.

Taking the elevator up to the fourteenth floor, he found the hallway eerily quiet, abandoned and dilapidated.

The original inhabitants had all gradually moved out. Ulan always said that it might not be long before this residential building would be demolished and rebuilt into a new office space. In recent years, the company had been eager to clear unrelated individuals from The First Region.

Melissa knocked on the door.

The sound of "thud thud thud" echoed down the corridor for a long time.

"Ulan, open up, it’s Melissa. I know you’re home, I can smell the alcohol through the door," she shouted at the door.

About several minutes passed before Ulan, reeking of booze, finally opened the door, holding a half-empty bottle of liquor in his hand. Through the partially open door, Melissa saw a mess strewn across the living room.

Empty beer bottles were everywhere.

There were electronic magazines, clothes, and bullets carelessly thrown on the floor, too.

Ulan was bleary-eyed, wearing a white tank top that looked a size too small, which outlined his muscled contours. His exposed arms were covered with mottled scars.

He too was a veteran who had participated in the "Outside" operations, and these scars were left from combat.

"Aren’t you going to invite me to sit down?" Melissa asked.

The chaotic scene in the living room was evidence enough of Ulan’s current poor state.

He was a clean person. Whenever friends visited his apartment in the past, he would clean the place up meticulously, and friends throwing barbecue skewers and bottles around after eating would drive him nuts.

She hadn’t expected that after just visiting a psychologist herself, she would end up dealing with the psychological issues of her teammates.

"Oh, right, please come in," said Ulan, his voice sounding significantly duller as he invited Melissa in, not forgetting to take another swig of liquor.

This was extremely abnormal.

How could a few bottles of beer knock down a veteran of the "Outside" war? Ulan had always been among those with the highest tolerance for alcohol.

"I heard you haven’t been feeling well lately and came to check on you."

"Not feeling well? Not at all, I’ve been in quite good shape recently. Rather, I’ve been sober in a long time," said Ulan as he returned to his original spot beside the coffee table in the living room, a position he had chosen with great care. The sky outside wasn’t completely blocked by tall buildings, and from there, he could drink and watch the darkness descend.

Melissa didn’t argue. She found a spot on the sofa not cluttered with items and sat down. She suspected that Ulan had been squeezed out of sitting space by the clutter and had simply decided to sit on the floor.

"They said you gave a speech in the office today, I missed it."

"It was just a spontaneous thing," Ulan said without turning his head from the sky outside the window. "Melissa, you also participated in the ’Outside’ war. You should understand how I feel."

The war had begun when the United Government discovered a large-scale virus weapon in a small country occupied by the Rebel Army in the "Outside" under the banners of "humanity" and "justice."

At that time, they were also filled with passion and committed to the war. But upon their arrival, they found no such virus weapons. They defeated the Rebel Army in less than a week, and for the next six months, searched for a newly discovered energy source.

They had also witnessed civilians simply because they were unwilling to cooperate with the search, suspected by the government of being Rebel Army spies, executed on the spot.

These incidents became classified secrets. To those within the United Government, the only news they saw was about the frontline troops of the United Government defeating the Rebel Army and defending justice.

And when they had finally made it through the war and returned to the United Government, what awaited them?

Endless psychological evaluations and irregular scrutiny from the Counter-Intelligence Department to ensure they wouldn’t leak any events from the "Outside."

Then, the issue with the cybernetic implants arose.

That was the first time most people realized the horrors of cybernetic mental illness, but Ulan suspected that so-called cybernetic mental illness had a lot to do with the Counter-Intelligence Department’s relentless investigations.

And even now, they were still tools in the hands of the United Government, used to dispose of those they found disagreeable.

"Melissa, I’ve been looking into recent cases," Ulan eventually said. "Those weren’t any cyber maniacs, they were just ordinary people crushed by their jobs."

They had no professional training, no combat capabilities, and faced with fully armed terrorist response teams, there was only one outcome—being shot to pieces.

"It’s not they who are truly crazy, it’s the people who issue me orders," he added.