A certain luxury villa, the book room.

The door to the book room was pushed open without the owner's permission, a very rude gesture.

Yet Trick Kennedy seemed to have grown accustomed to this, and his first reaction was not anger but to quickly extinguish the cigar in his hand.

The white man who entered the room wore a black suit with subtle stripes, with hair half-black, half-white, styled in a slick back, appearing to be in his fifties.

Upon seeing the smoky book room and Trick Kennedy in the midst of putting out his cigar, the older white man snorted coldly, then reached out his hand solemnly towards Luo An:

"You must be Luo An, I am Trick's father."

A gleam flashed in Luo An's eyes as he stood up and shook the man's hand.

Luo An had asked Mona to briefly investigate Trick Kennedy's family relations before coming to the villa tonight; hence he knew some details about Trick Kennedy's father.

Little Robert Kennedy, the nephew of former President John Kennedy and the fourth generation politician of the Kennedy family.

"Hello, Mr. Kennedy."

Luo An greeted with a smile, neither servile nor overbearing, and exchanged a few simple pleasantries:

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Please, take a seat."

Little Robert Kennedy, his expression stern throughout, gestured Luo An to sit with him on the sofa without engaging with Trick Kennedy, then said:

"I've heard about Group Leader Luo An's impressive record in solving cases. Among the young people I know, ones as outstanding as you are very rare."

"Thank you."

Luo An, not one to be modest, simply smiled and nodded in the manner of FBI tradition, accepting the compliment.

Seeing this, a hint of approval appeared in Little Robert Kennedy's eyes. After making small talk for a bit, he steered the conversation towards party politics:

"Group Leader Luo An, what is your opinion of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party?"

"One is an arms dealer, the other a tobacco merchant."

Luo An repeated the Federal jest about the two parties, spreading his hands and saying:

"I work in the FBI. The FBI is loyal to the Federation Government and has no party bias."

Luo An has always been disinterested in the various factions in the Federation, and it so happened that the FBI had such a policy, making it convenient for him to respond to the question.

"Good."

Hearing Luo An's response, a flicker of an unusual light passed over Little Robert Kennedy's face but quickly vanished; he then engaged Luo An in other topics.

Luo An, with his sharp observational skills, noticed the fleeting change in expression, but he kept his composure as if nothing happened and continued to discuss various federal topics.

After chatting for a while, Little Robert Kennedy mentioned he had other matters to attend to, stood up to shake hands with Luo An again, exchanged a few quiet words with Trick Kennedy off to the side, and then left the book room.

Now reduced to a spectator in his own home, Trick Kennedy, who had barely spoken while sitting aside, waited until his father truly left by car from the window of the book room. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief, reclaiming the smile on his face, and said self-deprecatingly:

"My father seems rather intimidating, doesn't he?"

Luo An chuckled without replying, picked up the lighter and cigar on the table, and asked:

"Shall we continue?"

"Of course!"

Trick Kennedy took the cigar Luo An passed to him, then retrieved a bottle of rum from behind the bookshelf, and laughed:

"This time, let's add a bottle of rum to the mix!"

Taking a highball glass, he sipped the potent rum, its spicy and stimulating taste spreading over his lips and teeth; Luo An's eyes lit up instantly.

With a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other, Trick Kennedy exhaled deeply, visibly more relaxed.

"Where were we in our conversation? Right, the organizational structure."

There was a brief silence in the book room before Trick Kennedy slapped his forehead and said:

"Those guys with bird brains have decided to disband ten Special Investigation Teams, directing them back to their original numbering system."

Luo An's expression remained unchanged, even clinking his glass with Trick's.

Clinking glasses with Luo An, Trick Kennedy raised his eyebrows:

"It seems you're not worried?"

"I trust tonight's dinner invitation isn't a precursor to bad news."

Luo An took a sip of rum from his glass and smiled:

"Isn't it?"

"Hahaha..."

Trick Kennedy laughed heartily, drank down the rum in his glass, and said:

"The FBI Washington Headquarters, under the divisions of Crime, Cyber, Response, and Services, houses twelve numbered investigation teams.

The day before yesterday, a new thirteenth investigation team was established within the department, and the team leader has been decided. The name on the document is Luo An Greenwood, who will take up the position in two months."

Luo An's lips curled into a smile:

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't thank me."

Trick waved his hand and explained:

"I am just the deputy minister of the Internal Threat Office; I don't have the authority to establish the thirteenth investigation team."

Luo An nodded in understanding, implying that the investigation team was pushed forward by Mr. Clement, and it seemed he would need to make several more visits to Mr. Clement's office.

"There's one more thing."

Trick took a few sips of his drink, suddenly patted Luo An on the shoulder, and said in a low voice:

"Luo An, the investigation expenses you reported before were too low."

Luo An thought carefully and understood that the other party was referring to the "Minister Alexander Death Case." After the conclusion of this case, the investigation expenses he reported were to be reimbursed by the headquarters.

Out of caution, Luo An did not tamper with the reported expenses at all, and even so, the expenses exceeded 80,000 US Dollars.

"Too low!"

Trick waved his hands repeatedly:

"The expenses for each case investigated by the other twelve teams are never less than 200,000 US Dollars! Some even reach a million US Dollars!

This time you led the Special Investigation Team to clear the Minister Alexander case with such effort, yet the expenses were only so little, you definitely underreported many items!"

"..."

Luo An's hand holding the glass shook a bit, his eyelid twitched, and he was silent for a long time, not knowing what to say.

The implication in Trick's words was easy to understand; by reporting such a low amount of expenses, Luo An would definitely draw the attention and dissatisfaction of the other twelve investigation teams and superiors:

Everyone takes, and you don't, what are you trying to imply?

Thinking about the Federation's infamous "political-business revolving door," Luo An inwardly lamented:

It's true to the capitalist nation, even here at headquarters, people know how to make money legitimately.

Trick patted Luo An on the shoulder and said with a smile:

"The expenses you reported are probably around 300,000 US Dollars too short; like the other teams, Mr. Clement and I have already made up for it."

Luo An was silent for a few seconds, didn't say much, picked up his glass, and clinked it with Trick's, asking:

"Who will be my superior once I transfer to headquarters to work?"

"The department of Crime, Cyber, Response, and Service's minister is named Sidis, 48 years old this year. You don't have to worry."

Trick took a deep drag on his cigar, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said:

"Coming from the FBI New York Branch, a department supervisor of the same name, Vireness, will be transferring to headquarters in half a month due to her extensive work experience.

Her position will be as the assistant to Minister Sidis, responsible for the handover tasks related to the twelfth and thirteenth investigation teams."

On paper, Luo An remained merely an investigation team leader, still a Supervisory Special Agent, with no promotion in rank or change in work content, and still tasked with handling cases.

But the team leader of a headquarters' investigation team is certainly different from that of a branch team leader.

Each local FBI branch, within the departments of Crime, Cyber, Response, and Service, has established different departments such as the Criminal Investigation Department, Major Incident Response Team, Cyber Department, International Business Department, Victim Services Department, and so on.

But at the FBI Washington Headquarters under the departments of Crime, Cyber, Response, and Service, there are only twelve... thirteen investigation teams, without those departments.

Moreover, the range of cases these investigation teams investigate is not just across different cities or states; it is expanded to include Washington D.C. and the entire Federation!

A sharp light flashed in Luo An's eyes, he suppressed the various thoughts stirring in his heart, and continued to ask:

"Sir, how are the case handling funds that were originally managed by the Special Investigation Team processed after transferring to headquarters?"