The Star Stain Organization has a significant influence, with at least a hundred planets allocating funds to it annually. It is said to have a staff of a hundred thousand, distributed across various minor star systems in the galaxy. They wield considerable authority, sometimes even swaying interstellar investments.
"What exactly do they do?" Jiang Ye asked again. "Environmental organizations focus on the environment, humanitarian organizations on human rights. What does the Stain Organization do?"
"The Stain Organization, of course, deals with stains," Feng Zhi Shuang replied. "Certain individuals or transnational corporations have had stains in specific areas. For various reasons, they escaped legal prosecution, such as their transgressions not yet reaching the level of illegality, loopholes in relevant laws, bribery to evade capture or forceful escape from prison, or the planet they were on experiencing chaos due to war or disintegration at the time of the incident."
"The actions of these individuals have placed them beyond the legal jurisdiction of their home planets. They flee to other planets that have no extradition treaties with their origin planets, thus they remain at large and start anew."
"The Star Stain Organization is responsible for tracking these individuals, informing various planets of their past stains and crimes, and hoping that these planets will grant special permission to apprehend them, escort them back to their place of origin for trial, or impose other penalties, thereby upholding justice," Feng Zhi Shuang explained. "In other words, the Star Stain Organization acts on behalf of heaven, dispensing justice."
"I understand," Jiang Ye said. "So, which of our planet's wealthy individuals has a tarnished past?"
"The Star Stain Organization's representatives did not tell me. They stated they could only discuss the details after meeting with you," Feng Zhi Shuang said. "Therefore, I am here to seek your opinion. Do you wish to meet with the operatives of the Stain Organization?"
"When will they arrive?"
"They can come anytime."
"Let's schedule it for the next couple of days. I will meet with them," Jiang Ye decided. "It's always good to understand more."
The following evening, Jiang Ye received word that the operatives of the Star Stain Organization had arrived and were waiting in a luxury suite at a hotel in Binhai City.
Jiang Ye requested that the operatives come to his office, but his request was denied. The operatives insisted that Jiang Ye come to them personally, stating, "This is how it is done on all planets."
Anxious about his safety, he dispatched a squad of guards to the hotel. They conducted a thorough search of the operatives' room, finding no weapons or toxins. Then, the suspicious guards confiscated everything in the room that could potentially be used as a weapon, such as glasses, plates, and electrical wires.
The guards reported that the operative was a lone, delicate woman, unlikely to be an assassin. They then waited in the adjacent rooms.
Jiang Ye had already had dinner and changed into a more casual, dark gray suit before heading out.
Initially, he had expected the operatives of such an organization to be men with wrinkled faces and sharp eyes, or perhaps sharp young men who might commit ritual suicide at any moment. Upon hearing from the guards that it was a woman, he had envisioned an elderly lady with the imposing demeanor of Empress Dowager Cixi.
However, when the door opened, he was stunned.
It was a bombshell.
She had a baby-faced roundness, delicate skin with a rosy hue, and an astonishingly ample bust. She was wearing a gray sports bra and a black sports jacket. Beneath her athletic shorts were slightly plump, fair legs that were incredibly alluring, exuding explosive youthfulness and vitality.
The bombshell was sitting on the windowsill, drinking juice. The moment she saw Jiang Ye, her eyes lit up.
"Hello, I am Jiang Ye," Jiang Ye said, looking at her in surprise, secretly doubting the Star Stain Organization's reputation for being "influential" and "highly official" as described by Feng Zhi Shuang.
"Greetings, Your Excellency Jiang!" The bombshell jumped down from the windowsill and livelily ran over, grabbing Jiang Ye's hand and shaking it vigorously. "I heard the commander of Planet Jiang Ye was very young, but I didn't expect you to be so handsome!"
Jiang Ye, uncharacteristically, felt a bit embarrassed.
The bombshell pulled a plastic card from her pocket and handed it to him.
[PARK YI-JIANG]
[Star Stain Organization Certified Level 4 Operative]
Jiang Ye was curious whether Level 4 was a high or low rank, but he decided against asking, as it might be awkward. He skipped that detail. "Hello, Ms. Park. Shall we get straight to the point? Which of our planet's wealthy individuals had a stain?"
"Please, have a seat. Let me pour you something to drink. This matter might take a while to discuss," Park Yi-Jiang said, raising her small hands to grasp Jiang Ye's shoulders and gently pressing him into a seat. "What would Your Excellency the Commander like to drink?"
"Thank you, I'm not thirsty," Jiang Ye replied cautiously.
Park Yi-Jiang went to the beverage machine, poured two glasses of peach juice, and sat on the opposite sofa.
"Your Excellency, have you heard of the Carney family?"
"Never."
"The first generation of the Carney family, Scott Carney, was notorious on Planet Jia. Planet Jia is a planet without order or technology, so primitive that it lacks even airplanes and cars, possessing only horses and bicycles. The locals lived in wooden shacks, working in the fields in rows. Small towns had police stations, but officers were often shot and killed, sometimes collapsing right at the police station entrance. Gangs were rampant: the pickpocket gangs who stole things in the streets, the blade-in-the-hat gangs who hid blades in their hats, the revolver gangs whose members carried revolvers and robbed horse-drawn carriages daily, and the sewer angels who operated in the sewers, primarily composed of city rats, addicts, and fugitives living in the sewers."
Jiang Ye listened, utterly bewildered, but continued to listen.
"Scott Carney was the leader of the Sewer Angels. He knew the entire city's sewer map by heart and would lead his subordinates through manholes from one to another. Under the cover of darkness, if a lone passerby appeared, Carney would lift the manhole cover, jump out, and rob the terrified pedestrian. Those who resisted were shot in the head, and anyone he took a disliking to was also shot in the head. The bodies were dragged back into the sewers."
"Once, Carney went to a town in another region for business. After finishing, he rested at a bar. Suddenly, an old white man in a black trench coat entered. The local thugs in the bar fell silent, intimidated. Carney quietly asked who it was. Someone next to him replied that it was the town's mayor and sheriff, a formidable character who had personally hanged no less than twenty criminals in the town square. Upon hearing this, Carney immediately drew his pistol. Amidst a collective gasp that seemed to lift the roof, the mayor fell straight down, dying instantly without needing a second shot. Carney declared, 'What good is being mayor? I am Carney.' The thugs in the tavern all shook his hand, offered him drinks, and finally bid him a hearty farewell as he left."
"Later, the successful Scott Carney, when interviewed by newspapers and magazines, claimed that during his years with the Sewer Angels, he had taken 28 lives, 'not counting those white pigs.' Oh, I forgot to mention, the Carney family's skin tone is similar to that of a darkened computer screen. Planet Jia has sharp racial tensions, and the slaves working in the farms often share a uniform skin color."
"Successful?" Jiang Ye caught the unusual phrasing. "What does a bandit mean by 'successful'? And how could he get interviewed by magazines?"