Chapter 206: The Senate's Song Ci

Dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue tracksuit from her own time, now so old they were barely recognizable, with a pair of knock-off Qiangren 3515 combat boots tied together by their laces slung over her shoulder, a barefoot Su Wan wearily took off her tattered straw hat and tossed it into the sea. She trudged down the gangway.

The “Spanish Whore” was a convenient boat, but it was far too small. It had tossed Su Wan about so much that she had spent the entire voyage groaning in her bunk.

“Greetings, Chief! I am a staff member of the Kaohsiung City Reception Office. Welcome, Chief, to our locality to guide our work.”

A well-dressed, energetic young man announced himself loudly and saluted. He explained that welcoming and seeing off every Chief who entered or left Kaohsiung was part of his job.

For the young naturalized citizen staff member, he had seen quite a few Chiefs already, including female Elders, so his sense of novelty about them had long since faded. However, Su Wan’s appearance still gave him a shock.

This female Chief was frighteningly tall! he thought with secret amazement. To think there was such a tall woman in the world!

Su Wan was 1.8 meters tall. This height was rare not only among the natives or naturalized citizens, but even among the male Elders. Yet, she weighed only 59 kilograms. This resulted in her being judged as having the worst figure among the female Elders, a verdict passed, of course, by the otaku who favored full breasts and plump buttocks.

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome,” Su Wan waved her hand feebly. “I’m exhausted. Is there a car?”

“A car has been prepared for you,” the naturalized citizen cadre said, his eyes falling on her bare feet, which gave him another jolt. This woman’s feet were bigger than Elder Wei’s! And the shoes slung over her shoulder were as big as small boats.

“What, never seen a woman before?” Su Wan said with displeasure, noticing the young man’s astonished stare.

“Ah, no, no,” the staff member stammered, terrified. The crime of “attempting to molest a female Elder” would probably lead to the extermination of his entire family. But he felt a little wronged. I had no such intention! He quickly added, “The car is ready. Please, get in.”

“What about my luggage?”

“We will have your luggage delivered to the guesthouse.”

She got into a two-wheeled “East Wind” official carriage. The carriage had been in Kaohsiung for some time. Overuse and lack of maintenance in the subtropical heat had left it somewhat dilapidated. The body and the oilcloth canopy were faded from the sun and rain. There were even unsightly “patches” in some places. The mat cover on the seat cushion was frayed at the edges and had been carefully stitched up, looking rather shabby.

There was no welcoming ceremony hosted by an Elder, no inspection, no welcoming band, and no escort of saber-wielding Japanese security forces on horseback. She was unceremoniously put into a carriage by a junior clerk and driven off. A sense of imbalance welled up in her heart. Back in Lin’gao, at least police officers and students would salute her when she came and went. What is this all about? she thought resentfully. I’m a senior police officer, for goodness sake.

As one of the few Elder police officers in the National Police, Su Wan’s presence was pitifully low. Her profession dictated that she spent most of her time at crime scenes, in autopsy rooms, laboratories, and classrooms. Even in Lin’gao, few people knew her. However, her height, combined with the black police uniform she wore, was enough to leave a deep impression whenever she appeared.

Her face was fairly standard, and her skin was relatively fair. With a little makeup, she could be quite attractive. But her small, sharp eyes often darted about, scrutinizing the exposed skin of everyone she saw, regardless of age or gender. Her black hair, which could reach her waist when let down, was sometimes worn loose and at other times braided and draped over her left breast. A pair of black-framed glasses always hung from her slender neck, and her small hands, sometimes with red-painted nails, sometimes silver, often rested unconsciously on her pointed chin.

To the forensic scientists of the future, she was the empire’s Song Ci, the famous coroner, a founding figure like Lu Ban to carpenters, and the “founder of modern forensic science and criminal investigation.” Marble and bronze busts of her, varying in size and expression, stood in the front halls of the forensic science department at the Central Police University and various other forensic institutions, watching over her successors. The dozen or so monographs she authored were all authoritative works in the field’s theoretical curriculum. Her profile was even engraved on the medals awarded to forensic workers. Below the profile was her famous quote: “To speak for the dead, to fight for the rights of the living.”

However, in her old world, Su Wan was just a very average forensic scientist from a third-tier county in a northwestern region. She had lost her job due to a misdiagnosis and, in a fit of despair, had joined the transmigration project alone.

As the only seedling in a vast field, in the realm of forensic science, she, a certified forensic scientist, was naturally more professional than doctors for humans or veterinarians for animals. Thus, like many other Elders who had little prospect in their old world, she found herself in a high position in the new one. She was appointed Director of the National Police Forensic Center, with a police rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel in the military.

The carriage bumped along the stone-paved road. Kaohsiung, after all, was not Lin’gao. The road conditions were limited, there was no small train, and the carriage was slow and jolting. Su Wan, already exhausted from seasickness, began to wonder if she was going to die here. More than death itself, she dreaded being buried anywhere other than the Cui Gang Cemetery. After a journey of grimly holding on to her collar and braid, the carriage finally stopped in front of the central stilt house of the “sci-fi-esque” Kaohsiung Guesthouse.

Su Wan jumped out of the carriage. It took her a moment to steady herself after a wave of dizziness. The sentry at the gate, seeing the carriage and her attire, knew this was the “female Chief” who was expected. He quickly raised his rifle in salute. “Greetings, Chief!”

Su Wan raised her right hand in a half-hearted return salute, forgetting she wasn’t in uniform and was barefoot. She lowered her head and yawned. “Can someone give me a hand?”

The sentry dared not delay. He called out, and two soldiers resting in a nearby hut ran over and quickly supported Su Wan by her arms. Su Wan was so tall that even the two sentries, who were burly men by the standards of this time, seemed much shorter. Although she was thin, she was still a heavy burden for the two soldiers, especially since they had to climb dozens of steps. It took a considerable effort to get her into the house and seated.

The house was circular. The interior followed the Elders’ usual simple style. In the center was a semi-circular service counter. Along the walls were rattan benches and matching low tables, as well as some cabinets.

After slumping in a long rattan chair in a daze for a while, Su Wan finally recovered. By the time she felt her head and eyes were back to normal, two maids in short-sleeved summer uniforms were standing before her. Su Wan looked up and suddenly realized her disheveled, barefoot appearance was far from dignified and lacked the commanding presence of an Elder. She instinctively shrank back in her chair. But the small chair was a bit of a squeeze for the 1.8-meter-tall Su Wan; she couldn’t shrink much.

Su Wan finally realized her lack of composure. She quickly wiped the weary and numb expression from her face and replaced it with the cold, sharp look of a female forensic scientist. “Ahem, comrades, you are?”

“Reporting to the Chief: this is the Kaohsiung Special City Guesthouse of the General Office, a residence for Chiefs to live and recuperate. We are the maids here. Elder Wei’s office secretary has already given us instructions to arrange for your living needs. We will arrange your room now. Please rest for a while. If you need anything, just call for us,” one of the maids said.

“Good, take me to my room.”

“This way, Chief.”

When the door opened, Su Wan’s eyes widened. This guesthouse was truly “fantastical” or “sci-fi.” It was located in a sparse grove of tall trees at the foot of a mountain, facing the sea with its back to the mountain, providing both ventilation and shade. She was standing in the large, central, domed stilt house, surrounded by an open-air corridor. Radiating from this central house were smaller, bun-shaped stilt houses, arranged in two staggered layers. All these smaller houses were connected to the central one by rope bridges.

This is just like the Ewok village in Star Wars! So damn corrupt! Su Wan lamented inwardly. No wonder everyone said the Elders sent on assignment were all corrupt to the core, corrupt in the most creative ways. I wonder how Wei Bachi and Lu Wenyuan are corrupt. I should report them to the CHEKA.

The two maids supported the still-dizzy Su Wan across a swaying rope bridge and opened the door to one of the small houses.

“This is your room. Your luggage has already been delivered. The central hall has the bathing facilities.”

“Thank you. You can go about your business now. I need to rest for a while.” Su Wan happily entered the room and found it was somewhat similar to a budget hotel from her old world, only much more spacious. The decoration was extremely simple, but the all-wood construction had its own charm.

In the middle of the room was a large bed, already fully made. Su Wan, ignoring her dirty feet, tossed her combat boots on the floor, threw off her jacket, and dove headfirst onto the bed. Just as she would after work back in her old world or in her quarters in Lin’gao, she tore off her skirt, underwear, and bra, tossing them aside, and crawled under the covers.

“It’s true what they say, nowhere is as comfortable as a bed,” she giggled at the ceiling, stretching her limbs and enjoying the pleasant sensation of the rough cotton sheets and high-quality rush mat against her skin, completely unconcerned about sleeping naked.

“I wonder who the great personage I’ve been specially called to dissect is,” Su Wan thought, rolling over happily, remembering her mission. A minute later, she was fast asleep.