Chapter 50: Chapter 48: Undermining Foundations
 

Half an hour had passed by the time he returned to the Bureau.

The Bureau’s finance personnel immediately approached David and said, “Inspector David, we’ve received the funds transferred from the real estate company. How much tax should be deposited into the treasury?”

David took out a pen and paper and copied an account number from a file folder, handing it over, “Deposit 254,628 US dollars into the treasury, and send the rest into this account!”

“Understood!”

After their conversation, Nisen couldn’t wait to take out his phone, log into the National Tax Bureau’s internal network, and started to repeatedly refresh the performance rankings.

Finally, after the 15th minute, he shared the joyful news, “Ha ha, David, our rank has risen to 411!”

David leaned over to look, and it was true.

Their combined performance now totalled 470,268 US dollars, a full double the previous rank of 812!

“Let’s see how much we need to enter the top 100!”

Nisen, containing his excitement, began scrolling upward, quickly reaching the 100th position.

The hundredth rank belonged to an inspector team from the Chicago Branch, currently with a performance of 1.36 million US dollars.

“Oh shit, these bastards, how can they be so terrifyingly efficient!”

Nisen, initially overjoyed by the doubling of their rank, became annoyed upon seeing that the performance needed for the hundredth rank was already at 1.36 million.

David’s eyebrows also raised slightly.

Last assessment period, with over 800,000 they were ranked at 89.

Now, just five days into the new assessment period, the hundredth rank had soared to 1.36 million.

It seemed that the appearance of the performance rankings truly motivated countless inspectors across the country to work themselves to the bone!

Let them work. He was curious to see who could truly outdo whom!

The Lake District Sub-Bureau Branch had eighty inspectors, and naturally, many eyes were following the changes in the performance rankings.

Soon, they noticed the shift in David’s team’s rank.

Seeing that they had added over two hundred thousand to their performance, rising to 411, everyone felt a silent shock.

After calming down, many of them stopped leisurely drinking coffee or slacking off at work, instead diligently applying themselves.

The reason was simple, some had already reached a performance of 470,000.

They couldn’t all just contribute insignificant amounts, could they? Everyone in the system was watching, and what would they look like if they were compared with such vast discrepancies—nothing but trash among trash?

…

Meanwhile, in the Tax Investigator’s office at the Chicago Branch,

“Chuckle chuckle chuckle…”

Keanu was reviewing several files from the Bureau. Hearing a knock at the door, he set down the files and said, “Come in!”

The next second, a somewhat portly man entered. He was the Chicago Branch’s Deputy Tax Investigator, Brunan Johnson.

“What’s up, Brunan?”

Brunan walked over, took out his phone, placed it on the table, and said, “Keanu, take a look at this!”

Keanu took a close look and saw that it was the performance ranking list, with one particular line catching his eye.

[Rank 411: National Tax Bureau Lakeside District, team 7 group 2 (David, Nisen Martinez, 470,628 US dollars).]

“What’s going on, another entry of over two hundred thousand?”

Keanu was surprised.

Last assessment period, team 7 group 2 from the Lake District emerged out of nowhere, entering the ranks of top hundred inspectors with over 800,000 in performance. After investigating, Keanu had taken note of this individual named David.

In the first few days of the new assessment period, he had been keeping an eye on David’s team.

However, for three days straight, the team’s performance remained at zero, which made him breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that team 7 group 2 was just a one-hit wonder or simply lucky, and not worth worrying about.

Unexpectedly, just yesterday, team 7 group 2 suddenly logged over two hundred thousand US dollars, not only surprising him but also causing a buzz in the Chicago Branch.

But it didn’t end there.

Just one day later, team 7 group 2 logged another two hundred thousand, reaching more than 470,000 in performance and climbing to rank 411 on the performance list.

What exactly was happening?

Brunan replied, “I’m not too sure myself; I just saw it on the performance list. But since it’s updated there, it must be correct.”

“Up to now, what is the highest rank achieved by an inspector team in our Bureau?”

“1015…”

“And their total performance?”

“Something like 870,000.”

“And the Lake District’s total performance?”

“Around 890,000.”

After hearing these numbers, Keanu’s expression turned sour.

It’s one thing to talk about the performance rankings; their Bureau’s inspectors hadn’t even broken into the top thousand.

As for the total performance, they were now being outdone by the Lake District… no, more accurately, outdone by team 7 group 2.

Without team 7 group 2’s four hundred thousand plus in performance, the Lake District would have just over 400,000.

Regardless, it was a humiliating situation.

After all, their Chicago Branch was the most prosperous area of Las Vegas, with the highest GDP, yet whether it was the performance rankings or the total performance Bureau-wide, they were being outclassed by the Lake District.

What would the city, state, and even the federal leadership think if they saw this?

They’d certainly believe the Chicago Branch was incompetent!

Contemplating for a while, Keanu looked up and said, “What’s your view on this matter?”

“Being outperformed in total performance by the Lake District last assessment period was already a disgrace for our Chicago Branch. If it happens again this time…”

Brunan didn’t continue, but Keanu clearly understood what he meant.

Being outdone once again, their chief might just fly back from Washington D.C. in rage!

“So, what do you think we should do?”

After a moment of reflection, Brunan said, “I think the problem mainly lies with this David. Don’t let his zero performance in the first three days fool you; these past two days he’s suddenly become Las Vegas’s top-ranking inspector team.”

“With ten days left in the assessment period, if this trend continues, I reckon the gap between us and the Lake District will only widen!”

“Why not have a talk with him to see if he’s interested in transferring to our Chicago Branch?”

Upon hearing this, Keanu’s expression shifted.

Given David’s performance in the last assessment period and these past two days, amounting to over four hundred thousand, David was definitely talented!

If they could transfer him to their Chicago Branch, with its prosperity and economic strength, not to mention the top hundred, even the top fifty was within reach!

And most importantly, if David were to come to their side, the Lake District’s performance would surely plummet back to its original state!

With that, their Chicago Branch would remain the powerhouse of performance in the National Tax Bureau of Las Vegas!