First-Class Lawyer

Chapter 1 – Intern (i)

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It was the end of November, early winter in De Carma.
The sound of the morning bells rang from the central square as per usual.
A flock of grey pigeons took flight in a flutter of wings, like a cloud of dust sweeping skyward.

It was a gloomy, cold and dreary day – the perfect kind of day to rob a house or send off the dead.
All in all, the weather was an appropriate reflection of Yan Suizhi’s current mood.

A few short months ago, he had held the title of First-Class Lawyer and had also been the dean of the interstellar Maze University’s law school.
Dressed immaculately from head to toe, he had been attending a garden party hosted for the elites…

But in the blink of an eye, he had become virtually penniless.

It was around 8 o’clock in the morning and he was strolling through the bustling black market of De Carma’s west end.
He sipped slowly at his coffee while his gaze swept across the many signs in front of the shops lining the street.

His skin was beautiful and fair, but his expression was one of immense distaste.
It was almost as if the drink he was sipping was not coffee, but unfiltered cat shit [1].

He had been there for half the day in search of an appropriate shop, a shop that could look into a few things for him and hopefully forge a document or two.

Five minutes later, Yan Suizhi came to a stop in front of a store with a small, narrow door.
The digital sign outside the shop displayed two lines:

Blackrock Repair Shop

We Do Everything!

Fantastic.

Yan Suizhi crumpled up the coffee cup, tossed it into the electronic recycling bin on the side of the road, then stepped inside the shop.

“Good morning,” The shopkeeper, whose unruly hair was practically a bird’s nest, poked his head out from behind the counter.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”

The heater in the shop was on full blast and even Yan Suizhi, who was a bit wary of the cold, could feel its warmth.
He peeled off his black gloves and from his coat pocket, he pulled out a metal ring and set it on the counter.
“Please look into this for me.”

It was a flexible smart device that could take any shape.
Most people preferred a ring-shaped design that was easy to carry with them – bracelets, rings, earrings…even anklets and waistbands.

Yan Suizhi’s tastes were not quite so obscure, so the object in his hand was merely a plain, unadorned ring.

“What is it that you want to check?”

“Everything that can be checked.”

“Alrighty.”

The shopkeeper set up his equipment and after giving the device a few taps, a hologram was projected.

There was a pitiful amount of information displayed on the hologram.
In fact, it was so clean that it might as well have come straight from the manufacturer.

There were only four items in total: one identification card, one asset card, one shuttle ticket to a neighbouring planet and one electronically constructed audio file.

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The shopkeeper, as a matter of principle, wouldn’t casually rifle through the contents without permission.
However, Yan Suizhi had no such qualms and knew the contents of these four items inside out – after all, he had already flipped through them a few dozen times over the past two days.

The identity card was a temporary fake ID.
The name on the ID was ‘Ruan Ye’, a recent university graduate who, like any typical new grad, probably didn’t know shit.

The asset card was from the black market.
It was unregistered and probably fake and the balance on the card wasn’t enough for him to live on for more than a month or two.

The shuttle ticket was a one-way ticket with no return flight.
It was basically telling him to get the hell out of here and run as far away as he possibly could.

“Is this everything?” the shopkeeper asked.

In his mind, Yan Suizhi let out a grim laugh.
“Yes, that’s everything.”

By ‘everything’, he didn’t mean just the contents of the smart device – he meant everything, as in, this was literally all the worldly belongings he had to his name.

Living life on the edge, as they say.

And all he had done to deserve this was attend a garden party at the end of May…

The wine being served that day had been rather weak and he had an upset stomach after only half a round of drinks.
He had made his excuses to the other guests and had left first.
Eventually, he had found a hotel where he could sleep it off.

Little did he know, this ‘sleep’ would last six whole months.
He had slept from summer until winter and when he opened his eyes, it was already November.

That was two days ago.

He woke up inside an apartment in the black market, the smart device in question placed beside his pillow.
Aside from the smart device, he didn’t even have two sticks to rub together.

Thankfully, there was all sorts of news available online and it didn’t take much effort to piece together the whole story.
On the day of the party, there happened to be an explosion at the hotel he was staying at.
He had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had ended up as one of the unfortunate souls that perished in the accident.

However, he was an unfortunate soul that was relatively well-known while he was alive.
As a result, all the major news sites had posted embellished headlines on the front page expressing shock and regret that he had passed at the height of his prime.
They had dragged it on for two months, almost as if it was a dog they were taking out on a long stroll, before their coverage slowly trickled off and he was eventually forgotten.

The truth, however, wasn’t so simple.

The electronic audio file on the smart device had given him a partial explanation.

The truth was, someone had saved him from the explosion and had spent the past six months performing a short-term gene modification operation on him.
The operation had fine-tuned his appearance and physiological age, and allowed him to temporarily maintain the appearance of a new graduate.
A fake ID had been prepared for him, as well as money and a shuttle ticket so that he could fly far away from De Carma.

In short, everything seemed to point towards the fact that the explosion had been a premeditated vendetta.
He wasn’t just some poor, unfortunate soul caught in the mix – he was the primary target.

However, it would be too much to ask a first-rate shyster like Yan Suizhi to give a list of people that he could have wronged.
There were simply too many to count – even the devil himself wouldn’t be able to keep track.

And so, Yan Suizhi’s only choice was to find someone from the black market to look into the matter.
Even if they couldn’t figure out the main culprit, it would be enough if they could at least find out the name of his savior.

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Half an hour later, the shopkeeper raised his head and rubbed his eyes – his search had come up empty handed.

Yan Suizhi frowned, “There’s nothing on it that’s traceable?”

“No, it’s clean as a whistle.”

“What about the smart device itself?”

“It’s an anonymous model from the black market, so it’s too hard to trace.
The radices cover so many galaxies it’d be like finding a needle in a haystack that’s the size of the universe.”

Yan Suizhi fiddled with the ring-shaped smart device and eventually said, “Alright, how about this? Can you help me resell the shuttle ticket?

The shopkeeper shot a glance at the ticket, then shook his head.
“I can’t help you.”

“I thought you did everything?” Yan Suizhi nodded towards the sign outside the door.

“It’s just an exaggeration.”

Yan Suizhi didn’t argue and merely nodded his head a little.
“I have one final request.”

“What is it? Tell me,” the shopkeeper said politely.
“I’ve got to solve at least one of your problems today – otherwise, I may as well toss that sign away.”

“I need a proof of registration document.” Yan Suizhi said, “To Maze University’s law school, specifically to Southcross Law Firm.”

Maze University’s law school was De Carma’s oldest and most renowned law school.
In fact, it was probably the oldest and most renowned law school in the Jade System.
It ha