"You could put it that way." Qian Hui's expression was a touch strange, but he nodded in agreent.
"Thank you, Big Brother Qian." Su Chen said solemnly. "I won't forget this kindness."
Sure enough, the grim furrow of Qian Hui's brow smoothed considerably. He sighed with relief. "Plenty of people have been eyeing this piece while it's been in my care. Now that you've taken it, I don't have to offend anyone."
"Your status more than warrants it. Nobody will complain."
"Right — there's this as well." Qian Hui opened the second, smaller tal case. Inside were three vials of viscous, crimson-colored potion.
"2nd-tier Mist Fiend Potion. That's your weekly allotnt."
"Can't you just give a few weeks' worth at once? Save us the trips." Fatty Sun grumbled.
Qian Hui's face darkened. "Then tell the Trade Depot to ship us more."
"I was kidding. Don't get so worked up." Fatty Sun waved dismissively.
Seeing Qian Hui on the verge of getting physical, Su Chen quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Coming back regularly is actually better. I can learn a lot from Brother Qian each visit."
After a few more minutes of small talk, Su Chen and Fatty Sun took their leave.
"Don't feel like you owe him anything. Old Qian has swindled plenty of tis." Fatty Sun clarified once they were outside.
'If there's a debt, it's to .'
"I understand." Su Chen nodded sincerely.
Fatty Sun looked gratified. Dealing with Su Chen was refreshing — no wasted words. His mind shifted to the next problem. "Hmm, we still need the forging thod..."
"Forging thods fall under my jurisdiction. For the Gale Hunter, you should use the E-rank Fierce Wind Body Forging thod — tempers the body with searing wind and fla. Should work well." Fatty Sun offered his recomndation, then added:
"We only have two or three E-rank forging thods on file anyway. Not exactly spoiled for choice."
Su Chen had no objections. He followed Fatty Sun to the Internal Affairs Division, watched him pull up the forging thod, and accepted the copy.
"Oh, almost forgot..." Sun Tai stopped him as he turned to leave, producing another docunt. "Here's the ditation thod you asked for."
Su Chen took it and flipped through. Ethereal ditation thod — focused on fine-grained ntal control.
The Morning Light ditation thod had reached Master rank long ago, granting the Morning Resonance ability, which boosted ntal resilience.
At this point, he was virtually immune to 1st-tier ntal attacks.
He'd only ntioned needing one a couple of days ago, and Sun Tai already had results.
"This makes three. Getting another one after this would be... tricky." Sun Tai rubbed his hands, speaking in a low voice.
"Shouldn't need to." Su Chen shook his head. Advancing the Mystic Scholar class required only three F-rank ditation thods, and the remaining developnt progress was minimal.
"Good." Sun Tai sagged with relief.
Zhang Hongbo had given him just three days to prepare. Su Chen used them to the hour, packing up his quarters and then following Fatty Sun to get familiar with his new post.
Nanfeng City was massive. Beyond the daily patrol teams dispatched from HQ, each of the four cardinal districts — north, south, east, and west — also had a branch office to ensure rapid response.
......
"Su Chen's been transferred out to the North City Branch. And he's beco a 2nd-tier professional."
Zhou Xian received the coded ssage from one of his subordinates. Cold fury blazed in his sunken eyes as his gaze dropped to the corpse before him — nearly encased in frost — and a flicker of grief passed through his expression.
His own son, dead before his ti. And the one responsible grew more radiant by the day. Bitter rage swelled in his chest.
"Pan Yu has gone silent too. Sothing's happened to him. But it wasn't the Supervision Departnt's doing. Could it be..."
With Pan Yu gone, the resources Zhou Xian could mobilize inside the Supervision Departnt were reduced to expendable nobodies.
"Do I really have to act personally?" Zhou Xian stared at the corpse, still wracked with indecision.
He had no other assignnts left — only to locate the "exquisite soul." If he threw caution to the wind, he wasn't without a chance.
But he couldn't be sure whether Su Chen actually knew why the Evil God Artifact had been emptied.
"Zhang Hongbo — dangling him like bait. Aren't you afraid Yuan Chenyang will co back and tear you apart?" Zhou Xian paced his room, hair disheveled, eyes hollow, looking like a withered husk. His voice grew lower and lower.
............
"Troubled tis, these are..."
On the road, Sun Tai drove the hover car, stealing a glance at Su Chen through the rearview mirror. "Pan Yu — the Deputy Division Chief from the Patrol Division — seems to have run into trouble."
"The Deputy Division Chief? Trouble?" Su Chen widened his eyes in feigned alarm. "What happened?"
"No idea." Fatty Sun steered with one hand, scratching his head with the other. "He didn't show up at the Departnt for several days straight. At first everyone assud he was on so kind of mission, but then nobody could reach him. Went to his house — also empty."
"A classified mission, maybe?" Su Chen ventured.
"The City Lord definitely didn't assign one. And the Director wouldn't have — Pan Yu barely t the Director a handful of tis." Fatty Sun shook his head.
"Any leads?" Su Chen looked puzzled.
"Your Division Chief is already investigating." Fatty Sun lowered his voice. "The whole departnt's on edge. Everyone's convinced the Evil God cults are behind it. His ho safe is missing too — nobody knows what to make of it."
Su Chen let out a mournful sigh. "I hope he's alright."
"Yeah, he was a decent guy." Sun Tai agreed.
The North City Branch occupied a four-story building. As a delegate from HQ, appointed by the City Lord himself, student of the Director, with towering connections in every direction — Su Chen naturally received a warm and enthusiastic welco.
After a cordial conversation with Branch Director Hou Xu in which Su Chen made clear he had no intention of ddling in operations and only wanted to focus on training, the man's hospitality reached new heights. He insisted on surrendering his own director's quarters without a mont's hesitation.
Hou Xu went ho every evening anyway — wife, children, warm bed. He never stayed over.
"Five-tis gravity room, everything I need." Su Chen saw Fatty Sun off, then carefully inspected the room. He activated Mystic Perception, covertly scanning for any hidden surveillance.
He then drew the curtains with practiced efficiency, peering through the gap at the world outside — pedestrians flowing past, vehicles crisscrossing the sky.
'They must have people stationed nearby. If this is a fishing operation, the one holding the rod wouldn't stray far.' Su Chen's mind stirred. 'Maybe I should bring in a little extra insurance.'
He opened his wristband, scrolled through his contacts, and after so deft maneuvering, closed it with a satisfied nod.
Stretching his limbs, Su Chen pulled a vial of Mist Fiend Potion from his Storage Space, popped the seal, and drained it. The taste was sharp and pungent.
The liquid burned all the way down, stinging even his throat.
The effects were imdiate and unmistakable. His exposed skin flushed crimson within seconds, and his insides felt as if blades were slicing through them.
"This is intense..." Su Chen's face went scarlet from the strain. He dashed into the Gravity Room, where the sudden five-fold gravity nearly crushed him flat. It took him a good while to adjust and find his rhythm.
Then the Fierce Wind Body Forging thod kicked in, and the cutting sensation multiplied. What had been cold steel carving flesh beca a white-hot plasma torch.
Here in unfamiliar territory, Su Chen didn't dare push himself to complete exhaustion. When he felt he'd had enough, he stopped.
[Gale Hunter: 2%]
[Mystic Artificer: 67%]
[Fierce Wind Body Forging thod — Beginner: 10%]
[Ethereal ditation thod — Beginner: 30%]
At 2nd-tier, both the rate of professional developnt and forging thod progression had dropped dramatically. Even with upgraded potions and a better Gravity Room, the pace was nothing close to what it had been at 1st-tier.
Early the next morning, before Su Chen had even started training, soone rushed in to inform him — a visitor downstairs.
"That fast?" Su Chen was surprised. He tidied himself up and headed down.
The first thing he saw was Zhang Hengyu standing ram-rod straight in the lobby — sharp-featured, impressively presentable.
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