"At least it doesn't require to sit through that eerie Trial of Whispers for ten or twenty minutes." Su Chen exhaled with relief. Evil God Power could actively trigger professional mutations, but the results remained unpredictable.
"One more ntal-type 2nd-tier upper-tier profession... Sounds easier than killing three 2nd-tier professionals. But..." Su Chen shook his head.
Physical-type 2nd-tier upper-tier professions could be found through the City Patrol Departnt or the Exploration Departnt.
But on the ntal side — Su Chen still hadn't heard of any 2nd-tier upper-tier ntal professionals in all of Nanfeng City. He had no channels.
"One step at a ti. If Nanfeng doesn't have it, Yingfeng will." Su Chen rubbed his chest. "That works out perfectly — by then, I'll have evolved to a 2nd-tier top-tier, which also satisfies the Spatial Storage Adept's requirents."
Two of its three requirents remained: traversing a spatial rift and possessing a 2nd-tier top-tier ntal profession.
One cubic ter of Storage Space was rather cramped. A bit of miscellaneous gear, so potions, and it was practically full.
His condition wasn't suited for training today. He took the day off, headed to the cafeteria and had the duty chef stir-fry two dishes. A small indulgence.
The next morning, barely past dawn, Fatty Sun arrived in high spirits, a tal case in his right hand.
"Little bro, little bro..." He seized Su Chen's hand and didn't let go until they were safely in the room. His smile was so wide both eyes had vanished. He leaned in close. "Brother, I truly owe you one this ti."
"That really was an Evil God cult hideout. Raided the whole thing — nabbed several people, including a 2nd-tier professional. Major credit."
"Nothing to do with ." Su Chen waved it off. "That's all you, Big Bro."
Fatty Sun's grin stretched even wider. "Understood, understood. I'm just here to share the joy."
He set the tal case on the desk and opened it — five vials of Mist Fiend Potion.
"You're the one I brought into the Supervision Departnt," Fatty Sun said warmly. "Nobody knows better than how hard you work. The three vials per week the departnt allocates barely make a dent."
"Use these for now."
"Big Bro Sun, you're wasted in internal affairs. Truly." Su Chen said it from the heart.
Fatty Sun bead, then leaned in conspiratorially. "Between us, little bro — I may look easygoing, but I've got ambitions too."
"But the internal affairs division doesn't do fieldwork. Without hard combat rits, a deputy director's seat is out of reach."
Su Chen understood. He said, almost off-handedly, "You know, I'll be leaving Nanfeng City eventually."
'Leaving eventually' ant the position and credit inside the Supervision Departnt were of no use to him. Only tangible benefits mattered.
Fatty Sun read between the lines imdiately. "Nanfeng City could never cage a dragon like you."
After seeing him off, Su Chen looked at the potions on the desk and shook his head with a smirk. "So I'm double-dipping now?"
His chest still ached dully. The branch office kept wound salves on hand, but those were barely effective on 1st-tier professionals, let alone him.
He swallowed a dose of Spiritual Light Potion instead and entered the training room. His physical injuries didn't affect his ditation practice.
"The Mystic Artificer is nearly at 100% too. Once it breaks through, its abilities will transform, and my combat power takes another leap."
He ditated until mid-afternoon, when his head felt ready to split. He went to find Zhang Hengyu and drag him to the cafeteria.
The young man seed to have been stewing. A dark cloud of pent-up frustration hung over him; the mont he stepped out of his room, words poured out in an unstoppable torrent.
"...I'm about to break through to 2nd-tier." Zhang Hengyu suddenly blurted.
Su Chen glanced up. "Congratulations," he offered with token enthusiasm.
Zhang Hengyu deflated. Su Chen continued, "If you really can't take it anymore, go outside. Get so air. If you snap from the pressure, your old man and your sister will co for my head."
"I can take it." Zhang Hengyu shot back reflexively. The training intensity here was unlike anything he'd experienced before.
Proper training required a balance of exertion and rest. Prolonged, monotonous grinding could inflict psychological damage — creating a vulnerability to ntal attacks down the road.
He'd always followed a strict regin, but coming here had shattered it.
Because Su Chen simply never left his room. All day, every day — training.
Zhang Hengyu couldn't bear the thought of resting while Su Chen was pushing himself to the limit.
"...Still..." Zhang Hengyu's tone shifted, carrying a hint of sheepish counsel. "Training should balance effort and recovery. Otherwise, you risk psychological problems."
He couldn't bring himself to slack off alone — but if they both agreed to take it easy? That felt different.
"If my mind were that fragile, it would've broken back when I was a refugee." Su Chen took a sip of soup and let out a satisfied sigh. The casual remark left Zhang Hengyu's face burning.
They hadn't even finished eating when Branch Director Hou Xu found them, looking mildly amazed. "Deputy Chief Su actually ca out of his room today?"
"Stay cooped up any longer and I'll grow mold." Su Chen shifted in his seat, still clutching a glistening hunk of at. "Care to join us, Director?"
"No, thank you." Hou Xu waved. "Just a heads-up — HQ is sending people over shortly. They want to ask you so questions."
"Headquarters?" Su Chen's mind stirred. Fatty Sun hadn't warned him.
'Old Sun doesn't know either?'
"What's this about? Pretty sudden." Su Chen's question sounded casual enough.
"..." Hou Xu hesitated, scanning the room. The cafeteria was empty at this hour. He sat beside Su Chen and glanced at Zhang Hengyu.
Zhang Hengyu blinked, looking vaguely confused.
Hou Xu was speechless. Su Chen cut in, "It's fine. Old Zhang is one of us."
Hou Xu leaned forward, head dipping low, voice barely above a whisper. "This one's unusual. The team includes the Patrol Division Chief, soone from the City Patrol Departnt, and one more person I don't recognize — but the other two are deferring to him. My guess is Exploration Departnt."
"A three-division joint inquiry. That's no small matter."
Su Chen's chopsticks paused. His mind raced through the possibilities. He'd been operating in the shadows on too many fronts — hard to pin down which one this was about.
Hou Xu said his piece and left it at that. Su Chen finished his al deep in thought, then returned to his room.
"Three-division joint inquiry..." Su Chen muttered, firing off a ssage to Old Sun. No reply yet.
He sniffed himself — the sour tang of dried sweat. Might as well shower first.
Hummm—
Cyan wind swirled around his body, drying the droplets. Su Chen faced the mirror and, as had beco routine, switched to Believer of Black Buddha mode.
He'd been doing this once or twice daily to scan for threats.
Since the Artifact incident, nothing had pinged for days.
Today was different. The instant he switched, sothing registered.
"An Artifact?" Su Chen's pulse spiked. He shook his head. "No — the signal's too faint. More like the last ti I sensed actual followers."
He focused. His expression shifted. His gaze dropped. "It's right HERE! A Believer of Black Buddha!"
"A hidden agent in the building? That doesn't track either — I've been here for days and this is the first ping."
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
The sudden rapping shattered Su Chen's concentration.
He opened the door. It was a female clerk from the branch office — short-haired, shoulder-length — whose eyes swept over Su Chen's bare torso without the slightest trace of embarrassnt.
eting his questioning look, she explained, "Director Hou asked to inform you — your visitors have arrived."
"The three-division inquiry?" Su Chen's pulse quickened. The pieces clicked. He kept his expression neutral. "Understood. I'll be right down."
'One of them is compromised...' Su Chen dressed quickly. 'The mutual sensing between followers only works at close range.'
'If I just detected him — he's almost certainly detected too.'
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